there was certainly no defamatory intent, and I sincerely apologize for its creation and inclusion on the siteI am impressed with Alan's decision, and take him at his word. Thanks to Y'all Politics for the guts and open mind Alan displayed in pulling the video.
Now we can go back to fighting over the merits of health care reform.
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What do you think about SB2991? Do you attorney-types think that was some innocent mistake?
Kuchenga, I'm confused. I was looking at SB 2991, which died in committee in the 2009 Regular Session of the Legislature. I don't understand what it is about this bill you are discussing.
SB 2991 was called:
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-605, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT YOUTH COURTS SHOULD NOT SEND NONVIOLENT FIRST-TIME OFFENDERS TO THE TRAINING SCHOOL OR TO DETENTION WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE AND TO CLARIFY THE DUTY OF THE YOUTH COURT TO CONDUCT A MANDATORY REVIEW AFTER 45 DAYS IN DETENTION
Jim, Kuchenga's referring to the 2008 session. That's the bill that would have created a downtown security district in which the Mississippi Department of Public Safety would have had law enforcement jurisdiction, in addition to the City and County. The district would have covered not only the downtown area, but also Belhaven, Woodland Hills and a great deal of Fondren. I'm not sure what Kuchenga found objectionable, but I suspect that its the perception that it gave affluent white citizens additional law enforcement protection supervised by a law enforcement agency run by white guys who would more than likely be Republicans. I'm not opposed to crime fighting, but I do find it troubling a group would want to create a separate district inhabited by a majority white population and provide that group with additional police protection at tax payer expense.
Ok, Terry, that's helpful. I'm still confused about the question whether that bill was an "innocent mistake."
I will say that I doubt that the JPD is the main impediment to enforcing the law in Jackson. I think we need a total revamping of the justice system, including more judges, DAs and public defenders.
The one deterrent I believe in is this: persons who break the law on a regular basis fear: (1) community policing that blankets the neighborhoods in which they operate; and (2) a justice system that swiftly adjudicates their guilt.
The New Yorker had a great article on this in its June 22, 2009 issue. "Don't Shoot" by John Seabrook
Again, I can't speak for Kuchenga, but I think the the issue here is Alan's close association with SafeCity and SafeCity's sponsorship of SB2991, which sought to create what might be characterized as a white-majority enclave within a black-majority city, which enclave's police force would be supplemented by the Department of Public Safety. The Department of Public Safety is controlled not by a black-majority government, but by a Republican-controlled State of Mississippi executive branch. Supporting such a regime might be characterized as being, at best, racially divisive and, at worst, blatantly racist.
Backing such legislation, as Alan is said to have done, might be characterized as consciously racist as opposed to the allegedly unconscious racism of the Childers "yarmulke" video that appeared on Y'all Politics.
So there's my untwitterable (way more than 140 characters) explanation for what I think Kuchenga's twitterable post was trying to say.
Safe City hired GOP lobbying heavyweights Chip Reno, Worth Thomas & Quentin Whitwell who found a "friend" in Fillingane who introduced this bill into Senate Jud A having been told and sold that the bill would spur economic development in Jackson. The bill was quietly passed out of committee right at deadline. The Jackson City Council had no knowledge of and did not approve the bill. Reports were the Safe City's board of directors, save Mark McCreary, Alan Lange and a couple others, also knew nothing about the bill nor did the board formally vote and approve the submission.
What was most offensive beyond the fact that the green zone they were trying to set up conveniently encompassed their own personal homes and select development projects of SafeCity donors and supporters -- and if you follow the strange jogs of the boundaries you'll get the picture -- was this language:
SECTION 2. (1) The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor listed in subsection (2) of this section that is proved to have been committed in the Capital City Security and Economic Development Zone created in Section 1 of Senate Bill [this one], 2008 Regular Session, shall be subject to a fifty percent (50%) enhancement of the maximum penalties otherwise provided by law. Every person so convicted shall be sentenced to the maximum term of imprison prescribed in this section and such sentence shall not be reduced or suspended nor shall such person be eligible for parole or probation.
I think most anyone who knows anything about crime in Jackson can easily deduce who in our society would be getting arrested and who would be receiving those draconian sentences. Bottom line the target was the black male.
Kingfish details the firestorm well as does a search of the JFP archives. Safe City never was called to task for a full accounting of their actions and, in retrospect, Safe City went quietly dark soon after that save for their helicopter fundraiser under new leadership earlier this year. They broad stroked the imbroglio away as some minor mistake. But when you are paying the lobbyists they were paying the retention dollars they command for services the idea that the bill was some smalltime dropping of the ball doesn't pass the smell test.
The JFP sat on the story until after it was killed. The publisher admitted several cops were in her office the Thursday before it was killed while they showed her the outlines of the maps and what BS it was. She didn't run a story on it until after it was killed and then admitted that in a comment. You know what they say about timing. When it came to actually fighting the bill, they were AWOL despite having the facts. It was killed the same day the CL and my blog posted about it.
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