OUR SYSTEM ISN'T PERFECT

Most rational people, when pressed, will admit that our legal system is not perfect. Yet, there are still a disturbingly large number of people who think the death penalty is a good thing. I'm guessing that most of those people are white. Because the odds of a white person going to death row are much smaller than the odds facing a minority who may find themselves on trial for something. Now, my current theory on the biggest cultural problem that is facing us is that racism is largely a ruse and that classism is the real enemy. That said, racism is far from a non-issue--especially when it comes to the legal system or judging people, period.

Take the two cases reported on in [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/07/30/lefttodie.legal.ap/index.html|this July 30, 2007 article] from AP.org available at CNN.com that details two virtually identical crimes that end with two different punishments.

In a nutshell:

A white college professor absent-mindedly left his 10-month old son in a hot car while he went off to work, after completely forgetting to drop his son at daycare.

A South American horse groomer left his 9-month old daughter in his car while he spent less than an hour betting on horses after leaving a car window open just a crack (because he was afraid if he left it open anymore someone would kidnap her).

Result? White guy's punishment is knowing that through his negligence he cause the death of his child. South American' dude's punishment is knowing that through his negligence he cause the death of his child and a 20-year prison sentence after which he'll be deported.

Now, I'm no expert on either case or either crime, but you can't tell me this doesn't seem a bit lopsided. It turns out that the South American dude was called "borderline retarded" by an expert witness in his trial, meanwhile, the white guy who got off was a college professor. Shouldn't we punish the smart guy for being so selfish that he forgot his son in a car? Likewise, shouldn't we go easier on the South American idiot since (as he claimed in the trial) he didn't know a car could get that hot so fast?

Seems like maybe the class thing might be at work here, too, since the South American dude was a horse groomer and not a college professor. The prof was off doing professorial stuff while the groomer was off betting on the horses.

Ultimately, the point is, our system isn't perfect. But in these two cases it seems like both were treated unfairly (white guy should have gotten stiffer punishment and non-white guy should have gotten a lighter sentence--neither should have walked away).

Just sayin'.

Tap [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/07/30/lefttodie.legal.ap/index.html|that article] to learn more about this particular story.

Special thanks to regular ThePete.Com reader (and my Mom), Jenny, for pointing me at this story. .

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