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Race
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Race The sad and tragic deaths of minorities at the hands of white police are forcing many to confront race and law issues. I will add some comments which will no doubt bother many... I see major improvements in legal rules that punish hate crimes and racial discrimination. But laws cannot change minds and hearts. Many people still harbor race bias. Bias clouds judgment, particularly under stress. Police have important and difficult jobs, particularly if a suspect is resisting arrest or aggressive and threatening the police. Juries will usually not convict a cop when there is a reasonable doubt that the cop felt he was in danger of death or serious injury. The Ferguson case is difficult due to the many different versions of the confrontation from various witnesses, and the absence of video evidence. Given the suspect hitting the cop several times, his criminal acts in stealing cigars from a store, his size and confrontation with the cop, there is no way a jury would convict the cop using the test of beyond a reasonable doubt. If the suspect was surrendering and was shot, that was clear excessive force and manslaughter. The problem is that some witnesses say the suspect was charging the cop and they perceived the hands as balled into fists. If the cop thought so as well he had a right to use lethal force to defend himself. The death penalty should not be given to a suspect for petty theft or resisting arrest. A non lethal taser or dousing with pepper spray would have been a better way to immobilize the suspect and protect the cop... The New York incident is also troubling. The 350 lb Eric Gardner was usually breaking up fights rather than creating the problem. He was tired of police arresting him for selling loose<b> cigarettes. </font></b>The police harassment for minor crimes led to this tragedy. There are many videos and the police applied a banned choke hold to this suspect who was resisting arrest. There was also inadequate CPR given the suspect. Eric had asthma and his weight also led to his death. Unlikely a jury would convict the cops of excessive force even with the video evidence as the police are allowed to use force to take down a resisting suspect who is arrested. I do not think the police should have made the arrest, but once they do the court and not the street is the place to discuss the arrest. Peaceful protests should follow these tragedies, but burning businesses and looting are criminal behaviors deserving punishment and condemnation. Many white people do not feel police harassment, because they do not experience such harassment. Many minority people know the police do harass them because they experience such harassment. Police need better training, more minority officers, and more non-lethal ways to stop suspects. Minorities need to learn that resisting arrest or attacking a cop can rapidly lead to death by cop. |
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Bias exists and it hides in all people. Excessive force can lead to death very rapidly...
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