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There have been a series of US Supreme Court decisions that allow local law enforcement and prosecutors to a.) not have to reveal any statistics on crime and ra

There have been a series of US Supreme Court decisions that allow local law enforcement and prosecutors to a.) not have to reveal any statistics on crime and race b.) enormous discretion on powers to stop and arrest such that law enforcement can give conflicting reasons for each action, i.e. this person was suspicious because they were driving too fast, this person was driving too closely to speed limit and every variation of that. The only thing they are not permitted to do is say "we did this because of the color of their skin." McCleskey v. Kemp is one of the cases in a long line of cases that has led to a catch-22, racial discrimination by law enforcement and prosecution is against the law, but as long as they don't admit to it there is no evidence because one cannot get discovery on the past history of law enforcement and prosecution.

gruez 3y ago
None of that tells us anything about whether something is "very common". In fact, as I mentioned in another comment, "very common" isn't even defined and is purely subjective. If there was some medical condition that affects 1000 people in the entire country, I doubt many would call it "very common". The same applies for most other things. A collectible where only 1000 exists in the entire country wouldn't exactly be called "very common". However, "police shootings being common" isn't exactly a rare sentiment despite also occurring approximately 1000 times per year[1]. Obviously this isn't to say that 1000 police shootings per year is fine because that's on the same magnitude as rare diseases, but the phrase "very common" is clearly in the eye of the beholder. In the context of police shootings or people being brutalized, when people say "very common" they're not actually saying it's "very common", they're actually saying "it's unacceptably high", which is an entirely different statement. Or maybe I'm too sheltered living in my gated community or whatever, and this is actually "very common" in the usual colloquial definition. Feel free to prove me wrong. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/polic...
- stevenwoo 3y ago
  You said it's a conspiracy because it can't be proven, the Supreme Court made it impossible to prove racial discrimination by law enforcement/prosecution but said it's not OK to do it, with a wink wink. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/ African Americans make up roughly ten percent of the US population, but are incarcerated at a much higher rate for drug related offenses. Two simple possibilities occur to me - African Americans somehow commit drug crimes at an astronomical rate compared to others (which I really doubt based on the people I know who sold drugs in college), or police simply enforce the laws against drugs primarily against African Americans.
  - Auracle 3y ago
    You didn’t list option C: African Americans commit crimes other than drug possession more frequently and then drug charges are either added on, or it happens during probation. A quick look at my county jail roster shows that a lot of the drug cases - but not all - are of that sort. Areas with more overall crime are going to have more police officers patrolling as well. Of course, it’s probably a bit of A, B, and C.
- notduncansmith 3y ago
  I think something that happens between 2 and 3 times per day is “very common” in a colloquial sense. I drive a car with less frequency and I’d call it a “very common” occurrence.

gruez 3y ago

None of that tells us anything about whether something is "very common". In fact, as I mentioned in another comment, "very common" isn't even defined and is purely subjective. If there was some medical condition that affects 1000 people in the entire country, I doubt many would call it "very common". The same applies for most other things. A collectible where only 1000 exists in the entire country wouldn't exactly be called "very common". However, "police shootings being common" isn't exactly a rare sentiment despite also occurring approximately 1000 times per year[1]. Obviously this isn't to say that 1000 police shootings per year is fine because that's on the same magnitude as rare diseases, but the phrase "very common" is clearly in the eye of the beholder. In the context of police shootings or people being brutalized, when people say "very common" they're not actually saying it's "very common", they're actually saying "it's unacceptably high", which is an entirely different statement. Or maybe I'm too sheltered living in my gated community or whatever, and this is actually "very common" in the usual colloquial definition. Feel free to prove me wrong. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/polic...

stevenwoo 3y ago
You said it's a conspiracy because it can't be proven, the Supreme Court made it impossible to prove racial discrimination by law enforcement/prosecution but said it's not OK to do it, with a wink wink. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5614457/ African Americans make up roughly ten percent of the US population, but are incarcerated at a much higher rate for drug related offenses. Two simple possibilities occur to me - African Americans somehow commit drug crimes at an astronomical rate compared to others (which I really doubt based on the people I know who sold drugs in college), or police simply enforce the laws against drugs primarily against African Americans.
- Auracle 3y ago
  You didn’t list option C: African Americans commit crimes other than drug possession more frequently and then drug charges are either added on, or it happens during probation. A quick look at my county jail roster shows that a lot of the drug cases - but not all - are of that sort. Areas with more overall crime are going to have more police officers patrolling as well. Of course, it’s probably a bit of A, B, and C.
notduncansmith 3y ago
I think something that happens between 2 and 3 times per day is “very common” in a colloquial sense. I drive a car with less frequency and I’d call it a “very common” occurrence.