How Oscar Grant Painfully Reminds us of Legal Inequality in America
How Oscar Grant Painfully Reminds us of Legal Inequality in America
Nothing is as relevant to the survival of a black man than how he deals with the police, and the current news story in Oakland, CA is a reminder to us all of the inequities of our justice system. A local story garnering national media attention is the case of Oscar Grant, a young black man shot dead in 2008 by an Oakland, CA police officer. The police officer, Johannes Mehserle, was a member of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police team. While responding to a disturbance at a local train station, Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant while he was face down, unarmed, subdued and in custody of several police officers. Mehserle's defense claim was that he thought he was using his Taser to subdue Grant instead of his sidearm, which he used to shoot Grant in the back and kill him instantly. There were several eyewitnesses to the incident combined with a very clear cell phone video of the encounter taken by a local train rider. On the surface it seems like a pretty open and shut case involving excessive force and manslaughter if not outright murder. This however is where the inequities of the U.S. justice system take over.
First, the Mehserle trial was moved to a different venue. Although it could be argued whether or not this is preferential treatment, it is clearly a fact that most ordinary citizens are not afforded the luxury of moving their trial to an alternate venue. Whatever racism, prejudice or bias that exists in the community where the crime is committed has to be dealt with by the defense in the best means available. Secondly, Mehserle was tried on only 1 crime and convicted of 1 count of involuntary manslaughter. Under the judge's discretion, the gun enhancement charge that would have added 10 years to his sentence was discarded which left a maximum sentence allowable of only 4 years for the death of a black man. Although the maximum sentence allowed was 14 years, Mehserle was given only a 2 year sentence of which he will only have to do 14 months (he was given 292 days off for time served). So the result of a police officer killing an innocent black man in cold blood, while being videotaped is a 1 year sentence, meanwhile Michael Vick got 4 years in jail for killing a dog. This point is made not to defend Michael Vick's actions (which were wrong), but rather to make a point about the disparity in sentencing for crimes in America.
The scenario of white men literally getting away with murder of black men has been seen too often in America. From Ku Klux Clan members getting away with lynching and killing black folks, to racist police officers shooting blacks during the civil rights movement, our history is littered with examples of blatant inequity when it comes to prosecution of white people killing black people (in the name of the law or otherwise). With this historical backdrop, it is obvious why there has been rioting in the streets and black people are so angry about this decision. Black people are painfully aware anecdotally and literally of the inequality and injustices that exist in our legal system to this day.
Sentencing for white collar crimes (think extortion, fraud) versus blue collar crimes (think robbery) have been and continue to be completely unfair. A corporate criminal can steal hundreds of millions of dollars from thousands of working men and women and get 5 years in a country club jail, while a brother who steals $50 from a liquor store will get 15 years in prison for armed robbery. The so-called "war on drugs" in the 1980's yielded laws that overwhelmingly favored uptown drug users versus downtown addicts. In 1987, the heyday of the crack epidemic, a person received a maximum minimum 5 year sentence for possessing just 5 grams of crack. It would take 500 grams of cocaine to garner the same sentence. Although 25% of crack users were African American, African Americans accounted for 87% of the arrests. This systemic incarceration of millions of black people for almost 25 years has resulted in a whole generation of black men being imprisoned, denied voting rights, fatherless children, and an impoverished community while suburban cokeheads live their lives free from incarceration as only the Pablo Escobar types would ever have 500 grams of cocaine at one time. It was only as recently as July of this year that President Obama and the Congress got this drug sentencing disparity reduced from 500:1 down to 18:1 but the damage to our community has already been done.
Not only is there glaring disparity between the sentences related to types of crimes, there is also extreme bias related to the individuals committing the exact same crime. Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan get minimal sentences or probation while black celebrities like Li'l Wayne and TI get hard jail time (and many months of it). Never mind that TI is 50 times more likely than Paris Hilton to get pulled over just because he is a black man driving a $250,000 Mercedes. Once he gets pulled over he almost certainly will be questioned and have his car searched while Paris Hilton will drive by unnoticed and unencumbered even though she may possess the same amount of personal use drugs as TI or any of the countless celebutantes that fill the streets of Beverly Hills.
In defense of Mehserle and other police officers, it should be noted that the police deal with all types of people every day, many of whom are violent criminals. Many of these encounters include individuals who are armed, high on drugs, extremely violent, repeat offenders, and/or mentally unstable. Every police encounter could be life threatening, and in rough neighborhoods where crime and drugs are rampant the life of a police officer could be threatened on every call. With this situation in place however there is still no excuse for the misaligned and disproportionate sentencing that occurs when police are caught breaking the law versus the average citizen committing a crime.
The message is loud and clear:
Police are held to a different legal standard than the people they are sworn to protect and serve
The legal system is biased to favor white collar criminals.
Rich and influential (think white) people get better treatment and sentencing than poor (think black) people
Until this reality is changed there will continue to be a fear, distrust, skepticism and hatred of police in the black community that will only perpetuate continuing incidents like this between young black men and white police officers.
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