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The Texas Injustice System

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Jun 20, 2005 at 10:56:20 AM EST
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A must read today, Molly Ivins on injustice in Texas.

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    The Texas Injustice System | 14 comments (14 topical)
    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:15 PM EST
    I was aware of some of this, and now I have a few more reasons to be glad I don't live in Texas. Oh my God! Good story. Thanks.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#2)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:15 PM EST
    Most people don't care about injustice until it hits you in the face. And Texas and its system of outrageous acts against people will soon become the totally evil system of the dead USA. hey people you will all understand that soon, one by one running down a dead end road yelling for help in the coming long night. have fun in the new empire.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#3)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    live in texas? heck... after reading that I don't want to VISIT texas

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    Jen, Amen! Twice!

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#5)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    I. Love. Molly.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#6)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    I second the motion dadler. Never miss her and she is so poignant with her words.......

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#7)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    “This was not first time in Texas a white man was given the death penalty for killing a black man. It was the second.” Can I infer from the comment she supports killing more murdering white folks? I’m crossing my fingers.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    I was aware of some of this, and now I have a few more reasons to be glad I don't live in Texas
    Cheetah, they say everthing's bigger in Texas and maybe injustice and corruption are included in that. Don't feel safe from a miscarriage of justice just because you don't live in Texas, though.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:16 PM EST
    I'm with Gen. Sheridan on this one "If I owned hell and Texas, I would live in hell and rent out Texas." pw, you think texas doesn't kill enough people already? Apparently Ms Ivins is too subtle for your understanding, she was pointing out the racist attitudes inherent in texas 'justice.' Ever heard of 'misdemeanor murder'?

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:17 PM EST
    Rates of incarceration are higher in Texas, but is it more racist than California or New York? See this chart from Human Rights Watch. Incarceration ratios: black/white: Texas 5.4; California 6.4; New York 10.7 hispanic/white: Texas 1.7; California 1.7; New York 5.5 See also table 4 (black) and table 5 (hispanic) for percent of population, race adustments.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#11)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:17 PM EST
    “Apparently Ms Ivins is too subtle for your understanding, she was pointing out the racist attitudes inherent in texas 'justice.' Ever heard of 'misdemeanor murder'?” And likewise your understanding of my post; although, I think you understood. I know, it’s hard to resist being trite. Let me make it plain; if murdering black folks are being executed but not murdering white folks, then no, Texas is not executing enough people.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#12)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:18 PM EST
    “Rates of incarceration are higher in Texas, but is it more racist than California or New York?” This got me thinking about how much crime perpetrated by white folks would need to be blamed on black folks to account for the disparity, all while keeping the rates of crime equivalent to the representation in the population. So I did some number crunching. Using 2003 murder convictions I found that for black folks to be responsible for murders in proportion to their representation in the US population, ~73% of the time they would be taking the rap for a murder actually committed by a white american. And further, since according to recorded statistics black folks are ~13x times more likely to kill another black american, assuming that 3in4 murders are incorrectly assigned to black Americans, white Americans would be killing nearly as many black Americans as white, and likewise for black Americans. So, if this were true is would require all these murders to concentrate at the interface of large black and white populations, or otherwise in highly integrated communities. The CDC has an interesting series of maps for cause of death. Anyway, homicide isn’t concentrated at ethnic population boundaries or integrated communities.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#13)
    by Richard Aubrey on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:23 PM EST
    pigwiggle. Sorry for being not quite able to follow your argument. Is it possible that the bulk of the murders for which blacks are in jail were really committed by whites? Is this the point? Somehow, I missed something.

    Re: The Texas Injustice System (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:29 PM EST
    Sailor, there is no "misdemeanor murder" in Texas. Everyone else, wow, you really are advancing the "cool-aid sipping" liberal stereotype. This site absolutley cracks me up...but then again so does the crumbling Democratic party. C'mon, you remember...The Democrats? They used to be a major political party back in the good ole' days. Well, maybe you should just ask your parents. I'm sure they could give you some history about the existance of this once respected political party. About the Ivins article: 1)Texas Criminal law in the 1980's was very different than it is now. The average conviction yielded the equivalent to 1 month per year of sentencing. Thus, the defendant probably only served about 5 years and the jury would have been aware of this...before they determined the sentence. 2)The defendant was a repeat offender (for thefts). Molly, was just giving us the tip of the iceberg (as ususal...just a little sip of the cool-aide). 3)The sentence was UPHELD through multiple appeals. 4)What I find ironic is that the point of Molly's article is to exploit the racisim and injustice within the Texas justice center. But is she really effectivley getting her point across by writing an article about the harshness of punishents towards WHITE men. Again, cool-aid...enjoy it while you can libs, even that may be gone one day.

    The Texas Injustice System | 14 comments (14 topical)