Many of the "anti-crime" policies implemented by America's 'legal eagles' over the past few decades have been blatantly racist against black people; primary cause for President Barak Obama to be thinking about appointing an African-American to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter. New York's infamous Rockefeller Laws, mandatory sentencing, and brutal prison policies, are but a few of the ways the American Justice System has disenfranchised black men. These factors begin to ring out loudly when understood on the backdrop of what Attorney General Holder noted about contemporary law enforcement: "We have often been a nation of cowards;" indicating the raw reality that discrimination remains a vital factor in the law today.
Having 'any old' African-American on the Supreme Court will not suffice this go around, especially since Chief Justice Clarence Thomas has not represented the specific interests of African-American people. A black judge who has demonstrated a capacity to empathize with issues that surround black men and women in America is vital in this selection. To provide a better understanding of my idea of a proper choice for Souter's replacement, I offer up a potential candidate, and will show you why I feel this way.
State of Michigan, 3rd District Circuit Court Judge Craig Stephen Strong has the right kind of history to be the nominee for the Souter seat. The following aspects of his biography indicate to me that he has enough 'swagga' (as T. J Holmes of CNN puts it) to fit the bill of a true representative of African-American culture: 1) he was raised on the "Old Westside" in Detroit, 2) he graduated from Howard University, 3) he was a founding member of the Association of Black Judges of Michigan, 4) he was part of the National Bar Association's delegation to South Africa, 5) he is an avid collector of African art and African-American memorabilia, 6) he was instrumental in establishing the Charles Wright African-American History Museum in Detroit, 7) he is a member of the NAACP, 8) he is a member of the Black United Fund of Michigan, and 9) he plays the sax. If that doesn't prove he is the man for the job I don't know what else does. Who would you nominate for the Supreme Court? P.S - If you had to pick and African-American!
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Not going to argue the suggested choice. He seems to be perfectly qualified. But unfortunately I'm afraid that he will not be able to attain what you might be looking for. Unfortunately the mainstream media seems to have this idea that these judges have influence on the laws put on the books. The simple fact is, they don't. They only have influence on how they are interpreted.
ReplyDeleteI have worked as a litigaion paralegal for some time and can tell you that the only thing the judge can do is interpret the meaning of the law, not rewrite it, implement it, or even throw it out. In order to deem a law unconstitutional there has to be a majority ruling. I'm afraid that one man won't make a difference on that. In order for it to be considered as unconstitutional there has to be an unquestionable doubt about its constitutionality.
You see, it is our legislatures we need to work on when it comes to reforming our law enforcement system. The Supremes are merely interpreters, not implementers. Judge Strong would have no choise but to apply the very laws you are unhappy with as long as so much as one white/hispanic/black/or asian has been prosecuted under it. That is where the Supremes are limited in their ability.
Our checks and balances are broken. They are broken because we the people have become to segmented and fractured to do our duty of playing watchdog on the elected officials of the legislative and executive branches.
If we ever fix that, then maybe we can finally see reform in a badly outdated, and broken legal system.
One day I'm gonna have to put together a blog in order to discuss the root of all these problems we are talking about. Sadly, the root is within ourselves. The citizens of this country is where change has to start, not our elected officials.