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Buying instruments for public high school bands is a local problem. Cops killing citizens in broad daylight and not facing consequences is not a local problem,

Buying instruments for public high school bands is a local problem. Cops killing citizens in broad daylight and not facing consequences is not a local problem, not any more than 9/11 was a local terrorism problem for residents of New York and Washington DC. "Let local residents handle it" was how America went through Jim Crow laws.

bigbubba 6y ago
When a locally elected prosecutor refuses to prosecute local cops, that seems at least somewhat like a local problem. Also, it seems strange to me that there is so little mention of the role prosecutors play in police misconduct. Mayors and city councils too, who are generally responsible for nominating police chiefs (opposed to sheriffs, who are elected.) Cynically, I think a lot of prosecutors and local politicians are glad the public is so hyper-focused on the crooked cops that they forget to address the elected officials who enable those cops.
- jjk166 6y ago
  Bad cops are a symptom Bad officials unwilling to prosecute bad cops is a second symptom Apathetic electorates electing bad officials unwilling to prosecute bad cops is a third symptom Municipalities spread all around the country are suffering from the same combination of symptoms. Whether that suggests one national problem or the same local problem in replicate is a question of semantics.
pdonis 6y ago
> "Let local residents handle it" was how America went through Jim Crow laws. No, "let Democratic State governments of the Southern states handle it" was how America went through Jim Crow laws. Localities would never have gotten away with it if the State governments had not supported them and helped them crack down on local citizens who pushed back.
throwaway201103 6y ago
"Let local residents handle it" is also how we have legal marijuana and gay marriage.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > "Let local residents handle it" is also how we have legal marijuana and gay marriage. Well, no, we nationally have gay marriage because of federal court decisions voiding state actions prohibiting same-sex marriage as violations of the federal Constitution. And we don't have legal marijuana anywhere in the United States (we have states which have chosen not to layer state prohibition on top of federal prohibition for some acts involving marijuana, an federal law mandating deferring prosecution for certain acts involving medical marijuana that are consistent with state law. Anyone who actually makes significant money in marijuana would still be subject to the federal drug kingpin laws were the policy deferring prosecution ever to be lifted, and technically without that if any part of their business involved any acts not entirely within the required deferral of prosecution.)

bigbubba 6y ago

When a locally elected prosecutor refuses to prosecute local cops, that seems at least somewhat like a local problem. Also, it seems strange to me that there is so little mention of the role prosecutors play in police misconduct. Mayors and city councils too, who are generally responsible for nominating police chiefs (opposed to sheriffs, who are elected.) Cynically, I think a lot of prosecutors and local politicians are glad the public is so hyper-focused on the crooked cops that they forget to address the elected officials who enable those cops.

jjk166 6y ago
Bad cops are a symptom Bad officials unwilling to prosecute bad cops is a second symptom Apathetic electorates electing bad officials unwilling to prosecute bad cops is a third symptom Municipalities spread all around the country are suffering from the same combination of symptoms. Whether that suggests one national problem or the same local problem in replicate is a question of semantics.

pdonis 6y ago

> "Let local residents handle it" was how America went through Jim Crow laws. No, "let Democratic State governments of the Southern states handle it" was how America went through Jim Crow laws. Localities would never have gotten away with it if the State governments had not supported them and helped them crack down on local citizens who pushed back.

throwaway201103 6y ago

"Let local residents handle it" is also how we have legal marijuana and gay marriage.

dragonwriter 6y ago
> "Let local residents handle it" is also how we have legal marijuana and gay marriage. Well, no, we nationally have gay marriage because of federal court decisions voiding state actions prohibiting same-sex marriage as violations of the federal Constitution. And we don't have legal marijuana anywhere in the United States (we have states which have chosen not to layer state prohibition on top of federal prohibition for some acts involving marijuana, an federal law mandating deferring prosecution for certain acts involving medical marijuana that are consistent with state law. Anyone who actually makes significant money in marijuana would still be subject to the federal drug kingpin laws were the policy deferring prosecution ever to be lifted, and technically without that if any part of their business involved any acts not entirely within the required deferral of prosecution.)