Justice is not blind. The American people are not treated equally by law enforcement officers or the court system. Our system has never been perfect, but after the cowardly attacks on 9/11 injustice replaced justice.

Congress passed the unconstitutional Patriot Act which allowed multiple violations of the first and fourth amendments. ICE was the knee-jerk reaction of a nation intentionally forced to live in fear.

The right-wing continues to live in denial. Multiple actions by law enforcement prove that minorities are treated differently than whites. When in court the color of skin, combined with an income considered less than average and even impoverished results in far more severe punishment than for wealthy, white Americans.

Black Americans are the most abused. Although they compose approximately 14 percent of the population, our prisons record a black population of 37.5 percent. The average income of all incarcerated Americans before conviction is $19,185 per year. The wealthy and powerful generally receive what can be called a ‘slap on the wrists’ for their crimes; if they receive punishment at all.

I have often used the example of Ethan Couch. In 2013 the 16-year-old slammed his truck into a crowd of pedestrians in Texas; killing four. A Texas court sentenced him to probation. After violating his probation, Couch fled to Mexico with his mother. The Mexican government returned him to Texas. In 2018 Couch was released from a Texas jail; he had served just two years. The Couch family is extremely wealthy and white. In Texas, it is an irrefutable truth that if it had been a black teenager who killed four men and women, he would have been executed by now.

The wealthy hire the best attorney’s in the nation. Low income Americans are often forced to rely on the services of Public Defenders who are overworked, underpaid, and under-funded.

This is not intended to claim that any single group is innocent or guilty. However, it is a fact that men and women with insufficient funds, and especially minorities, receive far lengthier sentences than Americans with money and power.

The most recent proof of these facts was demonstrated by the case of Paul Manafort. A man with lesser money and political power would have received a sentence amounting to twice or three-times that of Manafort. He was not only a criminal, his actions were tantamount to treason against the United States of America.

Our entire justice system must be reformed, including how federal judges receive their appointments. For years politicians claimed that we have the best system in the world. This is obviously a lie. Our system is prejudicial and even racist. Federal judges often make decisions based on political bias.

Another situation in desperate need of change, but it will never happen as long as the leader of white nationalism is living in the White House.

“The Truth Lives Here”

Op-ed by James Turnage

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