The Racial Justice Act establishes a new state cause of action that simply presumes that the justice system is biased, obviating the need to show individual discriminatory intent.
The Act’s drafters and supporters justify the exclusion of criminal history from statistical analysis via circular reasoning: They claim criminal history is infected by the same bias that infects everything else in the criminal-justice system. The act establishes an infinite regress of bias. If a prosecutor tries to offer what the law calls “race neutral reasons” for either past prosecutions or the one under challenge, those reasons can themselves be discounted as the product of “systemic and institutional racial bias, racial profiling, and historical patterns of racially biased policing and prosecution.” There is no clear way out of the presumption of racial guilt.
On Feb. 14, a state appellate court in San Diego held that a police officer can be guilty of implicit bias against black drivers even if he doesn’t know the race of the driver he stops. Not surprisingly, defense attorneys are now tacking on Racial Justice Act claims to almost any case involving minority defendants.
By mandating disparate treatment based on race, the Racial Justice Act will produce unequal justice for victims as well as offenders. Racial disparities in prosecuting and sentencing reflect disparities in criminal offending. In Los Angeles, blacks are 21 times as likely as whites to commit a violent crime, 36 times as likely to commit a robbery, and 57 times as likely to commit a homicide, according to police department data
Blacks in Los Angeles are 17 times as likely to be homicide victims as whites; statewide, the disparity is 13 times.
@ISIDEWITH3mos3MO
Should racial statistics in crime influence how laws are applied to individuals, or should each case be considered without such context?
Democrats losing the working class and minorities should prompt a lot of soul-searching. Their entire source of moral authority for generations was that they were the party of the little guy, of the marginalized minority, and that might soon be gone.
@CoatiGeorgeRepublican2mos2MO
Now they're the party of pronoun people and climate zealots.
@fart_smeller682mos2MO
no way you just said "pronoun people" skull emoji
@Patriot-#1776Constitution2mos2MO
And...? Is there an issue...?
@ResilientVultureDemocrat2mos2MO
There is absolutely nothing - except some recent bad polling - to suggest black and Hispanic voters general voting patterns have shifted significantly. If they were, Republicans would be more confident about things like redrawing Alabama’s congressional map.
@GloomyL3ftLeaningVeteran2mos2MO
Dems won't win for a while if identity is prioritized over the economy. All polling numbers are proving this. I've been saying it since 2016. Mayor Pete can't save the demographic slide of Hispanics abandoning the party at steep rates.
Dems must prioritize the inflation problem.
@poodlemoth 2mos2MO
@9KL3ZV72mos2MO
I believe they should not apply laws on individuals based on racial statistics in crime because that is a form of racism
@9KLWX4N2mos2MO
I think each case shouldn't care what race you are but how bad the crime committed was.
@ISIDEWITH3mos3MO
Does an act that aims to address racial bias but ignores individual criminal history lead to fairness or does it introduce a different kind of unfairness?
@9KKF6852mos2MO
it introduces a new kind of unfairness by not taking their background into account as would happen with everyone else.
@9KKD8LQRepublican2mos2MO
erase race from the picture and go off of individual history, we are all people apart of one earth, we may be different but we are equal, a fair trial is deserved for all who are reasonable.
@9KK7DNR2mos2MO
Racial bias shouldn't be a thing
@9KK4B7X2mos2MO
All though people might say race can have to do with how you are treated by the cops, what also play's a role is how you present yourself, are you showing respect. Now there are bad cops out there but I would say as long as you're not causing a problem and honest there shouldn't be a problem to begin with.
@C0nsensu5AvaPatriot3mos3MO
Another nail on the coffin of the once great state of California, and perhaps a new low in the annals of repugnant progressive governance emanating from Sacramento (which is quite a feat).
It is things like this that will accelerate the cascade of clear thinkers and productive, law-abiding citizens leaving the Golden State.
Simply appalling.
@LegislationCowRepublican3mos3MO
California gets what it deserves. The "problem" is that these "released" prisoners may head to other big cities to continue their behavior. Our Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves .....
This is tragic for the mostly black victims of the mostly black criminals. There'll be no justice at the courthouse. It'll be taken to the streets. A bloodbath will ensue. California is the new Somalia.
@C4mpaignVicunaForward3mos3MO
"California is the new Somalia."
Oakland already is.
@IntrepidJ0intResolVeteran3mos3MO
It may be no coincidence that California has more gated communities than any other state in the country.
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