Forms of Inquiry: 4/19/15 Today's Inquiries

I fear these links are becoming fewer and farther between...

The Links:

Rather than start off with articles about how it's open season on black men everywhere, I thought I'd share a review of how the FBI is creating terrorists out of thin air and then patting themselves on the back when they catch said terrorists.

Critics, including many civil rights groups, say law-enforcement operatives or civilians working with them often egg on suspects to commit crimes they would not necessarily have otherwise. In its most egregious instances, it can result in the entrapment of otherwise harmless — or mentally ill — individuals...

Payen, whom Braverman described as one of the “most profoundly incapable” clients he has ever represented, is now serving a 25-year sentence — the mandated minimum for the use of a surface-to-air missile. But the plan to use the Stinger was proposed by an FBI informant. “It’s a perversion of justice” by law enforcement, he argued, because “they’ve come up with the crime.”...

94.2 percent of cases on a Department of Justice list of terrorism-related convictions from 2001 and 2010 involved elements of pre-emptive prosecution — which they define as “preventive, predatory, proactive, pretextual or manufactured prosecution” — to target those “whose beliefs, ideology or religious affiliations raise security concerns for the government.”

There are legitimate questions as to whether the FBI was involved in radicalizing the Boston Marathon bombers. Given the behavior outlined above, it's not out of the question.

Nonetheless, these 2011 interviews with Tsarnaev and his family would later raise questions about the nature of the FBI’s relationship with him before the bombing, even prompting Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to issue an open letter to FBI Director James Comey asking whether Tsarnaev had been the target of a sting operation, or if had been employed as an informant by the bureau.

Not only that, but it turns out that all the forensic evidence being presented by the FBI in court cases is bullshit too. So the FBI is having a bad couple of weeks...

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’slargest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions.

Okay, now onto the riots in Baltimore and the absolutely bass ackward coverage of those rioting. Take this article as an example. Basically the media is portraying the situation on the ground as gangs attacking police while in reality the "gang members" are removing bystanders from tear gas and trying to get kids back to their parents.

Also infrequently mentioned is the high number of detainees being injured in BPD's transit vans. These so called "rough rides" are leading to millions of dollars in settlements by the police department but prosecutions have been very rare.

The most sensational case in Baltimore involved Johnson, a 43-year-old plumber who was arrested for public urination. He was handcuffed and placed in a transport van in good health. He emerged a quadriplegic...

And more here in a Baltimore Sun special report.

Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations. Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling church raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.

People like David Simon are speaking out, calling for peace.

And, surprisingly, the son of the Baltimore Orioles owner has a fairly nuanced take which I would not expect from the 1%.

Yet the best piece I've read comes from Ta Nehisi Coates. His point is that calls for nonviolence are tantamount to calls for compliance.

The people now calling for nonviolence are not prepared to answer these questions. Many of them are charged with enforcing the very policies that led to Gray's death, and yet they can offer no rational justification for Gray's death and so they appeal for calm. But there was no official appeal for calm when Gray was being arrested. There was no appeal for calm when Jerriel Lyles was assaulted. (“The blow was so heavy. My eyes swelled up. Blood was dripping down my nose and out my eye.”) There was no claim for nonviolence on behalf of Venus Green. (“Bitch, you ain’t no better than any of the other old black bitches I have locked up.”) There was no plea for peace on behalf of Starr Brown. (“They slammed me down on my face,” Brown added, her voice cracking. “The skin was gone on my face.")

When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself.

So, where does our criminal justice system go from here? It seems obvious that we've constructed a system which preys on minorities and the poos in the name of safer streets and the war on drugs. How do we fix this? Or, are overly aggressive and violative police actions the cost of our dramatic reduction in crime over the past 20 years?

Apparently this means Baltimore needs more charter schools.

Chicago is basically 2 cities in one. The wealthy white northern half and the mostly black police state in the south. Isn't that the case in most cities now? Baltimore, St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit? They all look the same and the only significant change is the migration of the poor out to the suburbs. Downtowns, however, are all similarly bifurcated.

The civic funding crisis is spreading nationwide. This is what happens when you destroy the middle class.

All across America, cities and towns are struggling to maintain enough revenue to provide crucial services to residents. The collateral damage of this revenue crisis—over-criminalization, utility shut-offs, the withdrawal of public services, and slashed budgets for schools—is dire.