Carrol Cox wrote:
>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.
-Nathan Newman, who's unfortunately taking a vacation from this list, -pointed out to me yesterday that lefties who take these sorts of -attitudes towards the criminal justice system obviously don't spend -much time talking with working class people of color, who generally -think the cops spend too much time repressing them and not enough -time responding to their complaints and going after real bad guys.
Since Doug tried to lure me back I'll take the bait.
Randall Kennedy has written quite a bit about this problem in his RACE, CRIME AND THE LAW. Anyone with any historic memory should remember that the number one civil rights issue for nearly a century was racism in underpolicing- namely the lack of punishment for lynching of blacks.
The oppressed do not necessarily do better under a weak state, since they can often be even more easily oppressed by informal violence outside the law. Yes, the police can be brutal but there are also potential ways to hold them accountable for their abuses - the same cannot be as easily said of informal violence such as lynchings.
The bemoaning of state violence as THE problem is an odd libertarian tic that ignores a whole history of struggle demanding stronger police protection for oppressed communities. Chaos has rarely been the choice of such communities, however romantic some left intellectuals have found it.
-- Nathan Newman