The Nation Reacts

[Jefferson23]

From San Diego to Seattle to New York City, where 100 people were arrested Wednesday, people stood in solidarity with Baltimore. - April 30, 2015

Transcript

The Nation ReactsNBC NEWS FOOTAGE: Overnight a cross-country wave of protests in support of Baltimore.

EDDIE CONWAY, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN, ACTIVIST: There's been demonstrations all across the country, in New York and Seattle, in Oakland.

NEWS FOOTAGE: A huge march clogged the streets in New York City tonight and in D.C.

CONWAY: There's a hundred people who did get arrested in New York and probably many, many more will be arrested across the country. People thought that Ferguson and Michael Brown was an isolated incident. But there's been other isolated incidents. Whether it was Tyrone West here in the city, whether it was Trayvon Martin in Florida, or whether it was Oscar Grant in Oakland, or whether it was this almost-near recent case in South Carolina that's been superseded now by this particular case with Freddie Gray.

One black man, woman, or child is murdered by police officers, correctional officers, or private security once every 28 hours in America. So it's a systemic problem about policing and keeping certain segments of the population under control. And to do that you have to have the militarization of the police department. And military wages war, and war creates bodies.

People need to get involved. They need to push, even if it's civil disobedience or any other kind of activities, to demand and get a change.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=13761

[PotatoChip]

1. It doesn't help matters that our police have been getting their "training" in Israel.

The clouds of tear gas, flurries of projectiles and images of police officers outfitted in military-grade hardware in Ferguson, Missouri, have reignited concerns about the militarization of domestic law enforcement in the United States.

But there has been another, little-discussed change in the training of American police since the 9/11 attacks: At least 300 high-ranking sheriffs and police from agencies large and small – from New York and Maine to Orange County and Oakland, California – have traveled to Israel for privately funded seminars in what is described as counter-terrorism techniques.

For some, dispatching American police to train in a foreign country battered by decades of war, terror attacks and strife highlights how dramatically U.S. law enforcement has changed in the 13 years since al-Qaida airplane hijackers crashed into New York’s World Trade Center. In many places, the image of the friendly cop on the beat has been replaced by intimidating, fully armed military-style troops. And Israel has played part in that transition.

As these trips to Israel became more commonplace, the militarization of U.S. law enforcement also was driven by the creation of various homeland security initiatives and billions of dollars of surplus military-grade equipment donated to local departments through the 1033 program after 9/11. Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, described the tactics he sees American police use today as “a near replica” of their Israeli counterparts.

“Whether it is in Ferguson or L.A., we see a similar response all the time in the form of a disproportionate number of combat-ready police with military gear who are ready to use tear gas at short notice,” Syed said. “Whenever you find 50 people at a demonstration, there is always a SWAT team in sight or right around the corner.”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-police-get-anti-terror-training-in-israel-on-privately-funded-trips/5403801

[Jefferson23]

2. I don't think it matters much, we are so there way before any other influence.

Our legacy is ours, we own it. We're brutal and we'll need to reform our system
dramatically. I was encouraged when I read that even Justice Kennedy views
our entire incarceration system to be a disaster...he makes it harder for the
Republicans to avoid the issue. We need more voices like his.

On edit: I do not mean to suggest I find that information anything but repugnant,
it should not have been arranged in the first place with Israeli authorities.

[PotatoChip]

3. I didn't know that about Justice Kennedy. It's good to hear.

Gives me a slim glimmer of hope.

[Jefferson23]

4. I'll try and find you the link and then post it for you..it is a good read and

includes Breyer.

[Jefferson23]

5. Here ya go:

snip* “In many respects, I think it’s broken,” Kennedy said of the corrections system. He lamented lawyer ignorance on this phase of the justice system:

I think, Mr. Chairman, that the corrections system is one of the most overlooked, misunderstood institutions we have in our entire government. In law school, I never heard about corrections. Lawyers are fascinated with the guilt/innocence adjudication process. Once the adjudication process is over, we have no interest in corrections. Doctors know more about the corrections system and psychiatrists than we do. Nobody looks at it. California, my home state, had 187,000 people in jail at a cost of over $30,000 a prisoner. compare the amount they gave to school children, it was about $3,500 a year. Now, this is 24-hour care and so this is apples and oranges in a way. And this idea of total incarceration just isn’t working. and it’s not humane.


in full: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/03/24/3637885/supreme-court-justices-implore-congress-reform-criminal-justice-system-not-humane/

[PotatoChip]

7. Oh, this is good. I'm glad Kennedy sees the issue as important.

Hopefully, the other 2 branches will come around to that way of thinking and do something about it.

Also, both Breyer and Kennedy oppose mandatory minimums. Revisiting that issue can't be done soon enough. I've always felt that it was a mistake from the very start.

Good article. Thanks for the link.

[Jefferson23]

8. Yes, I hope so too, we'll have to work hard to make it so.

You're most welcome for the article.

[blackspade]

6. K&R