I’m wondering if there is any real crime in Flint. Ofcourse I know the answer is to this question is yes so then the next question becomes  “do the cops in Flint not have more to worry about than the harm of saggy jeans”. Who hires these idiots, everyday people are being murdered, raped and a host of other violent crimes and you want to harrass people who wear their pants sagging.

It’s indecent and immoral, ok I hear you but what about the drugs being sold on the streets of Flint, the armed robberies, crimes that actually affect the well being of our communities. Make those crimes your priority not saggy jeans which is no more than a tacky fashion statement that I myself used to partake in.

Unless the real reason behind this saggy jeans thing is more remniscent of the broad view of racial profiling. The broad definition allows that you utilize race and other factors; ie. geography, dress, location, age and other factors to profile certain individuals. People who don the style of baggy, saggy jeans are more likely than not, young black males so this would give the police ammunition to approach young black males. Why? Because they fit the description and by wearing these saggy jeans, they are breaking the law.

So maybe the police chief has bigger hopes in mind. Maybe while taking these young black men off the streets for such a petty crime they will find drugs or some type of other criminal activity afoot during their harassment of these males. Just something to ponder!

Michigan police chief: Wear saggy pants, get arrested Flint’s top cop calls it ‘immoral self-expression,’ but others fear racial implications By BRYN MICKLE Newhouse News Service Published on: 06/27/08

This city’s new police chief is saying no to crack.

Interim Flint Police Chief David R. Dicks announced this week that officers will begin arresting people wearing pants or shorts that sag too low, exposing rear ends. “This immoral self-expression goes beyond free speech,” Dicks said in a statement released Thursday.”It rises to the crime of indecent exposure/disorderly persons.

” It’s a style that irks many — a few cities nationwide have outlawed the rear-revealing pants (the Atlanta City Council proposed a ban amid much debate, but the plan was ultimately tabled). However, the order also raises serious questions about how it would be enforced, whether it disproportionately targets young black men and whether ultra-low riders should be considered constitutionally protected.

Is Dicks going too far?

Greg Gibbs, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney in Flint, said how people wear their clothing is a form of expression but cautions that not all of those forms are protected by the Constitution.

“The issue is: Does it violate the First Amendment?” Gibbs asked.

Some Flint residents are all for busting those who go bottoms out. “It’s overdue,” said Sam Berry, 73, of Flint.

Gwendolyn R. Allen, 72, of Flint agreed: “It’s so disgusting … It’s disgraceful.” Claude Carter, 49, of Flint sees the issue differently, though. He said wearing pants in that manner is a fad — not a crime. “I see young and old wearing their pants that way,” said Carter. The crackdown on buttocks is an apparent response to “significant” complaints from citizens, according to Dicks. Under the chief’s orders, any sworn officer who sees “sagging/exposing buttocks” will have probable cause to make an arrest under the city’s disorderly person ordinance — a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and three months in jail.

Flint NAACP President Frances Gilcreast is no fan of the style but worries about police focusing on young black men.

“My concern is how (the policy) will be applied equitably,” Gilcreast said. Some Flint police officers, however, aren’t too sure how they will enforce it. “What about ‘plumber’s crack’?” said Keith Speer, president of the Flint Police Officers Association. In the past, Speer said, officers would issue warnings if too much skin was showing but reserved the handcuffs for full moons. “Most of the time, if they’re wearing sagging pants, they’re also wearing boxers,” he said. Memo notwithstanding, Speer doesn’t expect any big changes in how officers handle the issue. “It’s like issuing a memo telling officers to enforce the law,” Speer said. “Are we going to get a memo every time somebody complains?”

So the Supreme Court, the Court of all Courts, the Law of the Land has ruled that the death penalty is not permissable in a child rape case.

Well Why Not Your Honor? Do you only think it is necessary and proper for someone to be killed by our JUSTICE System when they too have murdered someone. How do we tell people not to murder by murdering them. Is that a misunderstanding because I don’t understand it.

A child who is raped is murdered in different ways. Their spirit is murdered in many instances, their bodies and mind never forget the horrific pain of being forced to have sex and brutally raped by adults. Often their belief systems are killed because they ask themselves what kind of God would allow such a heinous crime?

So if your reasoning is based on an eye for an eye, well that system is long gone. In fact the reasoning behind why we keep the Death Penalty in this country is flawed. Gregg v. Georgia outlines it, if I am correct. Here are the following reasons why the United States feels it is legally just to kill people to show them that they should not kill people!

In reaching this conclusion, the Court emphasized three factors: (i) that the “imposition of the death penalty for the crime of murder has a long history of acceptance both in the United States AND England”; (ii) that it was “now evident that a large proportion of American society continues to regard it as an appropriate and necessary criminal sanction”; and (iii) that the death penalty serves “two principal social purposes: retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective offenders.”

So let me understand this:

because the death penalty has long been accepted in both the United States and England it is alright to kill people. Couldn’t the same have been said to uphold slavery and other inhumane acts. It is reasonings like this, that seem logical to a selected few that killed off millions of Jewish people in the Holocaust.

2. Americans regard it as an appropriate and necessary criminal sanction. Hmm 100 years ago many Americans believed it was ok to lynch negroes for looking at white women. This was no small group of individuals, this was common practice here in America. Does that make it right? Many blue eyed, blond haired Germans felt it was an appropriate sanction to exterminate Jewish people, does that make it right, and or just. A young Indian girl was almost killed a few months ago because she is from a lower caste system. A young man in his twenties threw her onto a burning fire, does that make it right. His peers and old traditions in his country thought these types of actions were ok, does that make it right and legally sound?

3. The death penalty serves as retribution and deterrence. Well the easier one is deterence. It must not serve such a great job when people in this country are being killed every day. How are we deterring them, they are not deterred, they are not phased. In fact you encourage them to kill by being a leading example that says it is ok to kill someone.

Retribution, do we really want to go back to the old theory an eye for an eye. In that case we will all be blind which is what this system offers. Blind Justice, 10% or more of the people on Death Row currently are innocent yet they have been found guilty. Will we continue to kill innocent people in the name of our Constitution?

America, Land of the free, home of the brave do you really have the authority to play God. Are we that holy as a country that we dare look down upon others and “attempt” to bring democracy to them when are lacking fundamental freedoms at home. When you challenge America you are quickly reminded that you could live somewhere else where things are worst off. When did we begin comparing ourselves to countries and situations that are less favorable than our own. How does that allow us to prosper and grow when we make backwards comparisons rather than marching forward as I would believe the Forefathers of this country wanted us to.

The Supreme Court Says No to the Death Penalty for child rapists, I pray I see the day when WHEN WE SAY NO TO THE DEATH PENALTY COMPLETELY. Otherwise we are just as barbaric as the countries we claim to civilize!

here is the link to the story that prompted this discussion.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/06/25/scotus.child.rape/index.html

As you will read in the story below a grandmother was jailed for beating her 16 year old grandaughter who she caught having sex with another female. Let me say this again, the grandmother was jailed for beating her daughter who she caught having sex in her home that she pays the bills for.

Child Protective Services may close the blog down today because I say “BEAT THAT CHILD!” I’m 24 years old and if I get caught tomorrow having sex in my mother’s house, there will be hell to pay. Once again I am 24 years old however I have enough respect and I know better than to try and have sex in my parent’s home. I know the consequences, my mother wouldn’t play that at all.

More people need to beat their disrespectful kids, I do not agree with excessive beating but in my day I was beat with switches, extension cords, rulers. My parents picked up whatever was in hands distance. I never ended up in the hospital and I also learned valuable lessons, respect and the difference between right and wrong. The problem today is people don’t beat their kids. It’s not politically correct, hence we have rising incarceration rates because children are going out committing stupid crimes because they do not know any better.

The lesson today is: BEAT YOUR KIDS, YOU MAY SAVE THEM FROM THE COPS BEATING YOUR KIDS OR EVEN WORST JAILING YOUR KIDS!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thhiTUKFs4]

Reading woman jailed in beating of granddaughter, 16

Beddell told police that she had done nothing wrong and said she should have been allowed to discipline her granddaughter as she saw fit.

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=95664

People have it confused; if you and your man do a crime and you get caught and he doesn’t and you tell. THAT’S SNITCHING! You chose that lifestyle, you are only telling because you got caught. However if a little girl gets shot in the street and you say you’re not going to “snitch”, a. that’s not snitching, b. you’re a punk and you’ll end up dead soon enough. See because you chose not to snitch you bring death to your own front doorstep! 1

START SNITCHING

We see it glorified in old mob flicks, rap records hail it as the sin of all sins; the number one code of the streets; “don’t snitch”. LOYALTY, I understand the concept very well, but when does it border stupidity and become a cause in fact of the violence and destruction of our neighborhoods. The “Stop Snitching Campaign” was subliminally etched into our minds long before the celebrated t-shirts with stop signs and the word snitching embedded within. Well please forgive me, for I am about to break the ultimate code of honor, I’m about to become the rat of all rats, because my charge for us as a community is to… “START SNITCHING”.

There, I said it, START SNITCHING, start snitching if you want your children to live to see past their elementary school graduation. Start Snitching if you want to stop living in fear as you walk to the corner store. This is heavy, because as a people we have a strong distrust for law enforcement. I mean, why wouldn’t we, after seeing many of our leaders crippled by this system of American Justice. We vividly remember news clips of the Civil Rights Era, watching police officers brutally attack people of color with water hoses and K-9 dogs? Many of us can attest to the “random” car stops, the harassment and brutality that our people face on a daily basis from those who are supposed to protect and serve. Yet I still say START SNITCHING, far too many of our children are becoming victims in the crossfire of drug wars, domestic disputes and other various forms of crime that begat violence.

What do you tell a mother who just lost her 6-year-old child to gun violence and you know what happened? What do we put on your grave when you’re no longer here, “here lies a good man cause he wasn’t no snitch”. No, more like here lies a coward who was too afraid to take ownership of his community and protect the lives around him. Now you’re thinking, “I‘m not snitching because then they are going to come and get me”. I agree, and sadly once again law enforcement does an awful job at protecting those who come forward with the truth. There is power in numbers, if we take a stand as a people we can combat these atrocities. We can put pressure on the legislators to create better programs for those who come forward, put pressure on city hall to allocate sufficient funds to the police department for such programs. Once we become aware of our power we won’t have to live in fear, we will begin to think for the system and have our thoughts implemented, as they should be in the first place. We elect, key word “elect” public officials, they are in their positions to serve us. So if we don’t feel safe it is our duty to get that message across to those who we have elected to make us feel protected. We can employ “effective snitching” by going to city council meetings, arranging town hall meetings and charging elected officials with doing their job and implementing programs that will make our streets safer. Our taxes are what pay the salaries of these elected officials and law enforcement personnel, so essentially they work for us, its time that we remind these people who write their checks and demand that produce results!

I’m talking about taking a stand for the well-being of the children we are raising. We know exactly what goes on around the way from violence to drug dealing and we even know what times it is more probable that these crimes occur. Effective snitching means as a community going to these elected officials and providing them with this information, demanding that they not only look at the information but that they create a plan of action to address it. Jail time is supposed to serve as a deterrent for crimes committed, meaning if you do the crime you do the time. By not snitching and taking a blind eye to the crimes within our neighborhoods, we are sending our people the message that what they’re doing is right and will be tolerated. We’re saying there’s no reason to think before you act because no one is going to tell so you don’t have to worry about prison time. No wonder the murder rates are so high, we have sent a message that people can be killed and we will protect the killers by keeping silent. START SNITCHING, effective snitching, lets be a catalyst for the change that we wish to see in our communities. Let’s Make It Happen!

Cedric D. Shine

This is really sad news, my heart truly goes out to this man’s family. Kirk Wright, a Harvard educated manager of a popular hedge fund killed himself this past Memorial Day weekend after being convicted of mail fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering in federal court.

Kirk Wright was the manager of the Marietta Hedge Fund. The bigger issue here to me is that a well educated, intelligent brother has taken his own life. A problem we often neglect in black communities and believe it or not white communities as well is how serious depression really is. It seems we have yet to find a productive way as a society to deal with how people emotionally handle times of crisis. Often these states of depression drive people right off the edge and they do drastic things like committing violent crimes even inflicting pain upon themselves. I send my deepest condolences to this brothers family and I pray that as a community we can start discussing the need to make mental health a core issue in our lives and finding beneficial remedies.

for more on this story check out:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/05/26/wright_0527.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

it’s really sad that in today’s world that the people who our taxes pay to serve and protect us do just the opposite. I have to find some heroic police story to update folks with because lately all I see is police brutality, mishandling of information and other nonsense from the boys in blue. It’s disheartening!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJDfJeAVrR4&hl=en]

Caution, the following video is extremely disturbing and will definitely make you extremely angry. I am not posting this video for kicks and giggles. Far too often do we sweep “taboos” under the rug in our society and people become victims of such crimes because of it. The news is depressing so we turn it off but maybe after watching this we will realize that not only do we need to turn it on. We need to be aware of the people in our communities; particularly sex offenders who have a habit of striking again. Having these types of dialogues may save a child’s life. Be safe and God Bless!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIU6ZpXVils&hl=en]