Attorney General Eric Holder: Jail time for blacks is too long

Attorney General Eric Holder expressed “concern” Thursday evening that black men are unfairly served with longer prison sentences than white men and that America’s prison system demands overhaul.

“Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long for no good law enforcement reason,” Mr. Holder said, in remarks to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in New York, Politico reported. “It is time to ask ourselves some fundamental questions about our criminal justice system. … It is time to examine our systems and determine what truly works.”

Mr. Holder said in the Politico report that state laws oftentimes require sentences that are too harsh for the specific case — and that “breed[s] disrespect” for the court system. He also referred to a report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission released in February and said figures show that blacks are being disproportionately prosecuted and sentenced.

“I am concerned by a troubling report … which indicates that — in recent years — black male offenders have received sentences that are nearly 20 percent longer than those imposed on white males convicted of similar crimes,” he said, Politico reported.

I wasn't talking so much about blacks from higher SES so much as I was about those from intact families, though I realize the two are very closely connected.

Dr. Sowell published a piece recently comparing how black families had lower unemployment rates and lower illegitimacy rates than their white counterparts back in the days of Jim Crow, Eisenhower Administration and earlier.

I believe Sowell himself did not come from an intact family but, back then, the aunts, uncles and grandparents stepped in plus the black churches were more focused on preaching the gospel of family values rather than civil rights and getting even with whitey.

"I'd like to see that troubling report"

Just Google "FBI Uniform Crime report". 2011 is the last year available.

Be forewarned that the breakdown of gun crimes and violent crimes can not be openly published because of political incorrectness.

But yes, African-Americans are responsible for over 50% of our nation's violent crimes. It should not be a comfort that most of that crime is against each other. The black crime numbers greatly distort the overall statistical picture. If those crime numbers are subtracted from the total, the remaining crime shows that the rest of the folks are kinder and gentler than most all European countries.

And even more troubling, gun crimes by any race hardly every involve so-called assault rifles. A couple of notable exceptions have clouded the publics perception of the situation. The media has deliberated created a false image.

The same thing happened in 1968 which resulted in the infamous Gun Control Act of 1968. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated and the media flooded us with every story about gun crimes and mishaps to create the perception of an epidemic of gun crime. Which there was not.

There is not an epidemic of gun crime today, but who would know it after constantly being bombarded with endless stories about school kids being murdered?

Read the FBI report and you will learn that gun crime has been on a steady decrease for several decades and is less that half of what it was just 20 years ago.

There are a number of factors that should be considered as to why "Blacks" receive longer sentences for similar crimes. For example, the attitude displayed by many blacks towards judges in court. Then there's the number of prior criminal acts of a similar nature. I'm sure other considerations exist. This is not simply because of the color of the skin of the thug being sentenced.

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