>Cops beat people, shoot them, manufacture evidence, and lie at
>trials. That's a lot more significant than not filling out the
>required paperwork. I'm still at a loss to understand what you are
>advocating.
>
Yes, but they do it everywhere, not just in the US. "People's militias" beat up workers and peasants in the "workers and peasants states" just the US cops do. It is the nature of the police work, and not a conspiracy of the ruling class against a broadly defined group of people.
More importantly, it is possible to change that police behavior only when we correctly identify the source of the problem - the nature of the interaction between police officers and citizens. Beacuse of the nature of that interaction, police work requires a lot of interactive skills that most police officers in the US do not have (cf. Jack Katz, _Seductions of Crime_).
OTH, moralizing drivel and grandiose claims & denunciations obscure the issue and serve only fishy Sharpton-like characters as a platform for a political career.
As far as Mumia's case is concerned - ge got a crapy trial, and should get a new one, even if his own behavior contributed to theintial raw deal he got. That is a strictly legal issue.
But that does not make his a political celebrity he's been molded to. In fact, I suspect that the movemnt behind him is largely due to his celebrity status - an amiable black prisoner who speaks the white middle class language - rather then principles. Where were those happy campers regularly proetesting in Phily's downtown when less amiable characters such as mentally retarded Ricky Rector were executed? I can tell a celberity cult when I see it.
In short, I believe Mumia's should get a new trial (and i've written in support of that) - but at the same time the Mumia's movement makes me puke.
wojtek