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William Otis's avatar

Reader Rigby Maguire asks that I post the following comment in his name. Since the comment is critical but civil, and we like to encourage the freedom to speak dissenting views, I decided that I would:

Nowhere in the guidelines quoted in your post or the original article

do I see anything that states that one race should be given

preferential sentences. (If that's actually happening, I'd like to see

the data on it, and I agree that it should be stopped.) I interpret

those guidelines differently, but, again, I'd be interested in seeing

actual data from Hennepin County's sentencing record. It's simply a

fact, not opinion, that study after study has shown that judges are

more likely to sentence minority criminals than white criminals to

prison and jail. Study after study shows that black men statistically

receive harsher prison sentences than white men who have committed the

exact same crimes and who have equivalent criminal history. I could

provide links, but I have no doubt that you are aware of these

studies.

The way I read the Hennepin County guidelines (and I

understand that you read them very differently) is that prosecutors

must be mindful of these historical disparities, take the defendant's

race into account to ensure that no unconscious biases are in play,

and that equivalent crimes receive equivalent sentences. Admittedly,

the language is a little squishy/touchy-feely, and I understand the

criticism that it has sparked, but the above interpretation is

honestly how I read it. However, if a thorough review of the actual

sentences that have been handed down since this guidance was issued

reveals any racial preferences, I agree that the guidelines should be

scrapped immediately.

On another subject, the out-of-left-field swipe

at Christine Blasey Ford fell flat for me, but I suppose all humor is

subjective. ###

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Doug Israel's avatar

Are you thinking of the Woody Allen film Bananas when he tries to discreetly buy copies of "Orgasm" and "Modern Sperm" and the clerk bellows out a request for the price?

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