IMO, one of the root causes is underfunded public defenders. Which cycles back to the racial issue - black guy cells a cigarette or jumps a turnstile? NYPD is on the case! Stock broker steals millions or billions? If the SEC even investigates it’s often a paltry slap on the wrist. Black guy gets pulled over with an empty beer can and no BAC? DUI. White kid kills someone? Oh it’s their first offense, and so on and so forth.
Then you throw in that public defenders are underfunded so if you’re not a perfect defendant they push you to plead out (if you even meet with them)…
The combination of giving the benefit of the doubt to white defendants, overpolicing crimes that the 1% have no need to commit, and underfunding public defenders all come together in very bad ways.
I think at the very least, a federal ruling that localities must spend equal amounts on the prosecutors office and the public defenders office would be a start.
The fact such an obvious and simple policy solution is not enacted or demanded ties back to the white supremacy issue you correctly raise - rural whites have disproportionate representation so sound, evidence based policy positions like the one I just mentioned don’t move forward, even though they should appeal to both parties if we had a functioning two party system.
(Democrats for humanitarian reasons, Republicans because it’s better to let people be in the workforce than pay to house and feed them).
I’d usually reserve the term “political prisoner” for someone like Manning or Snowden who is arrested explicitly for political acts but I’m not going to get hung up on a language issue when I’m not hearing anything from you I disagree with. (Similarly I can see now why you and others reacted strongly, and regret not thinking through my post more)
I 100% agree that everyone deserves equal justice and that is not happening currently and I hope we can move on from this since I’ve clarified several times, to several people.
The only reason I made my OP was because I’ve seen the “China and US are the same” meme used too often not to inspire reform at home, but to excuse bad behavior abroad.
I have been ill and did probably shouldn’t have been posting. I’ve repeatedly clarified myself and I hope we can move past this.
Thanks!
