Black and White

[locdlib]

Who amongst us can forget Ethan Couch? The 16-year-old who killed 4 people in a car wreck and injured others. He is said to have "affluenza" and was not jailed for murdering people. Instead he got 10 years probation and "rehab" in a 6-figure a year facility. "Couch's parents will have to pay $1,170 per month. A placement officer said the actual cost of Vernon State Hospital is $715 per day. This means that they'll be paying for less than two days of every month their son is there. The rest will come from the state mental health care budget." On the same night he killed those people, several of his passengers were caught on camera stealing beer from a local Wal-Mart. Couch had a blood alcohol level of 0.24 which is 3 times the legal limit for an adult. He also had traces of Valium in his system. At age 15 he was ticketed after being found parked in a pickup truck with an undressed 14-year-old girl.

Now, we have Michael Brown. An 18-year-old college bound youth. Police said Brown was a suspect in a robbery earlier in the day, but clarified that he was initially stopped for jaywalking, not the alleged robbery. Police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed Michael Brown outside of an apartment complex on August 9, 2014, for jaywalking. Not for mowing people down and killing them while drunk and high, not even for an alleged robbery. For jaywalking. Michael Brown's murderer is on paid administrative leave. Since Michael Brown's parents pay taxes in Ferguson, they are indeed paying the salary of the man who murdered their son.

Someone may have already pointed this out earlier. My level of outrage is so high right now.

[pipoman]

1. Intellectual dishonesty. ..a path our emotions sometimes takes us down...

[Travis_0004]

2. Isnt that a function of class

For example would OJ have been found not guilty if he didnt have several million for a defense team?

[hardcover]

3. No shit! The affluenza defense and the OJ defense

shows us justice is not black and white, it's rich and poor.

[BlueJazz]

6. Your words are very true. I remember dating a Court Reporter for a few months.

She told me stories of rich teens getting away with horrendous crimes while poor/black teens were given years in prison for offenses that were minor.......in a civilized society..(holding 2 ounces of pot)

[hardcover]

7. The rich can afford lawers, the poor can't

and court appointed lawyers are a scam

[Igel]

11. Both provoked a lot of outrage.

Not just at a local level, either, but at a national level.


If the verdict is widely condemned and considered atypical or somehow wrong, they can't really be seen as "the way things are usually done."

Outliers make for bad generalizations. It's why "data" isn't the plural of "anecdote."

One difference, though, between the outrage is how it was described. The "affluenza" outrage was simple outrage. Few rushed to the brat's defense. The best you got was a mention of the expense that the parents would have for "rehab." The kid was a symbol of pretty much just bad things.

The outrage at the OJ decision was hailed as a display of racism as some rushed to his defense. For some, OJ was a symbol of good things that needed defending and the verdict was considered justice.

[etherealtruth]

5. There are many tiers in the disparity in this country

I do not deny the classism ... and wholly believe "justice" means quite different things when it comes to "the affluent," the middle class and the poor.

It is also impossible to deny that the same divide exists between white Americans and black Americans.

both disparities can and do occur at the same time. it is also important to note that large scale poverty in the black community is (and has been) a direct result of racism.

[smokey nj]

8. About a month before the Henry Louis Gates incident, I went on a cat visit to a place I'd never been

before (I'm a pet sitter and was covering for a co-worker who was in the hospital recovering from surgery). I had some issues getting into the apartment. Every dog in the building was barking and it was a HUGE ruckus. I finally called my co-worker in the hospital to find I was trying to get into the wrong apartment. NOBODY called the cops. Henry Louis Gates wasn't so lucky and the poor man was just trying to get into his OWN house. If you put my bank statement next to that of Mr. Gates, I'm fairly certain his balance would have a few more digits than mine. You bet your ass there's a divide between white Americans and black Americans.

[etherealtruth]

9. Can you imagine that ....?

He clearly wasn't the "right color" to have achieved that level of affluence

OJ Simpson had a lot more going for him than his affluence ... he was a sports star and and a celebrity personality ... a personality that was (prior to this incident ) quite charming. Additionally, his crimes (he was found liable eventually0 came at a time (really no different than now0 when the African American community was fed up with the racist, (frequently) lying police departments in the area.

[smokey nj]

4. Ethan Couch also stole two cases of beer from Walmart the night of the accident.

On June 15, 2013, according to authorities and trial testimony, Couch was witnessed on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a Walmart store, driving with seven passengers in his father's Ford F-350 pickup truck, and speeding (70 MPH in a designated 40 MPH zone). Three hours after the incident, he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.24, three times the legal limit for adult drivers in Texas.[3] Couch also tested positive for Valium.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Couch

[napkinz]

10. ...