2017-01-05, 02:54 PM
On SB-1322, I've got mixed feelings. I certainly don't think police should be wasting time arresting underage prostitutes because the vast majority are coerced. These children need help, not punishment and that's exactly what the law is intended to do. I don't think that the threat of jail time was every particularly effective in compelling testimony against the pimps. The pimps are far scarier. That said, it does nothing to improve existing services to help these children so I don't expect any real improvement.
How does this have anything to do with the Constitution?
From everything I've read, the kidnappers are clearly racist. Maybe there's no history of racial bias (beyond this video) and that's why officials have been reluctant to call it out. I believe the legal burden for declaring it a hate crime is quite high. I'm more inclined to believe this is just Chicago PD being massively incompetent as usual. Media editing bias is nothing new... but man, this should be easy to universally condemn. To be fair, NPR includes the quotes prominently in their article/broadcast. I can't speak about other news outlets because I don't usually check their drivel.
From an efficacy perspective, it doesn't matter if they attribute the crime to race or mental disability. The penalty is the same and these people are going to go to jail for a long, long time.
How does this have anything to do with the Constitution?
From everything I've read, the kidnappers are clearly racist. Maybe there's no history of racial bias (beyond this video) and that's why officials have been reluctant to call it out. I believe the legal burden for declaring it a hate crime is quite high. I'm more inclined to believe this is just Chicago PD being massively incompetent as usual. Media editing bias is nothing new... but man, this should be easy to universally condemn. To be fair, NPR includes the quotes prominently in their article/broadcast. I can't speak about other news outlets because I don't usually check their drivel.
From an efficacy perspective, it doesn't matter if they attribute the crime to race or mental disability. The penalty is the same and these people are going to go to jail for a long, long time.