Seth Ackerman wrote:
>
> Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>
> .
> Besides, no one is opposed to pursuing and arresting street criminals, are
> they? Even though this sometimes requires using some degree of force.
>
Something I learned some years ago from an attorney in the public defenders office in Chicago. Here's one of the core ways the Chicago police pursue the pursuit of "street criminals." They will pick an area and so a street sweep, arresting almost every young black man in sight. They will keep them in Cook County Jail for about 12 hours and then haul them into night court (where drug arraignments are handled). The judge will tell them: if you plead innocent, your bail will be such & such and your trial will be (six months or so down the road). Bail is of course beyond most of them. The alternative: Plead guilty, I'll put you on probation and you can go home now. Choice is obvious.
Next time a cop picks them up for any reason, legitimate or illegitimate, they have violated probation -- and off to prison they go.
I think a real serious case can be made (I believe Angela Davis has written on this) that the criminal justice system creates more crime than it prevents -- especially more street crime. And certainly, the most vicious and destructive street gang in Chicago is the Chicago Police Department. The Chief of Detectives there for many years was part of the mob. They finally "caught" him and the last I knew were dancing around the problem of not bringing him to trial because it would be too revealing.
Carrol