EQUALITY PROMOTES BLIND JUSTICE
by
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Deeply Troubling Moral Issues
Discretionary Right to Discriminate
This story involves a high profile African-American NFL superstar, who suffered at the discretion of the legal system, because of the inferior status conferred upon his group. Because of his status and regardless of his individual economic contribution to society he did not benefit from the inherent legal support afforded other members of society. Often it is African-Americans who are the beneficiaries of a discretionary discriminatory justice system’s negative outcome, while members of the dominant culture with similar or less economic status are the beneficiary of positive outcomes. There are many stories throughout history that prove this hypothesis true!
The following high profile case helps to confirm this theory. On the morning of
This unfair and unequal justice was at its best when the American people were given “the unfair sentencing laws” that clearly drew a dividing line between the status groups. For example African-American youth receive longer sentences than due white youth for the same amount of cocaine. The case of Sean Bell is another case that boggles the mind when it comes to the immorality of injustice; this young African-American was shot 51 times by officers of the New York Police Department one day before he was to be married. He was unarmed yet three police officers shot him 51 times and each officer was acquitted of all charges by a single Judge.
There were no jurors seated to hear the legal arguments. The Judge cited concerns about inciting too much emotional response to the perceived insensitive behavior of the police officers. Because of the imbalances in the legal system, the Judge was further allowed to find the three officers not guilty of any criminal action. The Judge was free to make this ruling based on a built-in discretionary discriminatory practice used by the American criminal justice system. Could it be assumed that because the victim is dead that he forfeited any rights to a jury trial or should there always be an asserted right for a jury for the dead? This exclusionary belief system is more widely used when it comes to African-Americans who are without any social recognizable right to automatic legal representation. This built-in discretion excludes even high profile African-Americans from any expectation of the American ideal of a fair and balanced justice system for all who share the same values. All these cases have brought to focus the imbalances in the justice system.
I am deeply interested in the case of the doctor whose case was reported back in 2005, after the Hurricane Katrina storm in
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About the Book
Reverend Willie Pou has observed many cases of social injustice in American society for many years, which he believes from a moral perspective, are unfair. There are two cases he is profoundly interested in at this time. In his words they are both deeply and morally troubling to him. He further believes; that they should be brought to the attention of other like-minded Americans. As for the moral issues surrounding these two cases that have aroused Reverend Pou’s interest this time; the first case is about the medical doctor from
The second case is about a young African-American who was a National Football League (NFL) superstar from Atlanta, Georgia who bet on dog fights and was found guilty by a single Judge, not of his peer group; and then sent to jail for inhumane treatment of dogs. It is a known fact that the doctor’s actions ended the lives of four elderly patients under her care, during the storm of Hurricane Katrina through a process identified as euthanasia. However, in contrast the football player was accused of destroying dogs that were injured after the dogs lost a dog fight.
The justice system in these two cases appears to have used a legal discretionary right to discriminate against the one who was charged with what appears to be the lesser crime. The courts demonstrated this unspoken discretion in these two cases and in separate municipalities and courts with different Judges. The medical doctor in the
This book is a fascinating read about the legal discretionary right to discriminate and how two similar situations coming before the legal system are processed completely differently. One dealing with the cruelty to human life, and another with the ill treatment of animals; where the legal system appears to place a higher value on the life of animals than the value of human life. The author highlights the differences in how the legal system allows the courts’ judges to place different values on the punishment it levies for similar cases. The author has chosen these two very distinct cases to contrast the differences in how justice is applied in the legal system.
Reverend Pou desires you the reader to understand the background of each of the accused and their alleged crimes. He wants you to imagine that the NFL superstar was a white male member of the dominant culture within the highest status class and decide for yourself if the punishments fit the crimes.
The author sets the stage for a debate about morality and the integrity of the American justice system; a debate never before experienced out in the open where other morally concerned Americans can participate. The author tells about each character’s crime and the events leading up to their misbehavior. He contrasts two lives and expresses his opinion about how unfair the justice system is for a member of a status cast group without society’s automatic support for legal representation!
Carrie Johnson
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About the Author
Reverend Pou refers to himself as a country boy straight from the Mississippi bottoms. He was born on October 31, 1950, in a small town in Mississippi by the name of Waynesboro. During his first three years of school he attended school in a real schoolhouse which served as both the town’s church and school. After leaving that school, he went on to attend a school in downtown Waynesboro by the name of Riverview High, where he was an active student. He was on the basketball team and played a musical instrument (the Tuba) in the band. According to Reverend Pou it was the best high school band in Mississippi. One of the reasons, he believed the band was so great, he thought was the jazzy music played; he said: “the band won all their competitions”. It was said: “Jackson State has never seen a band that could sight read music the way this band did”.
Reverend Pou remembers a time during one of his basketball games that he retrieved a rebound ball, and the official called a foul on him. He had moved so rapidly during the rebound that he failed to observe the position in which he had landed, on one of the other player! The official said to him, look under your knees; his knees were in the other team’s player’s back. He said: “I was motivated to rebound the basketball, because I enjoyed the girls screaming when I jumped for the basketball”. Reverend Pou graduated from high school in 1967 and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Services and Management from the University of Phoenix.
Reverend Willie Pou eventually moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he has resided since May 20, 1970. He is active in both his church and community. He sings in three different choirs; two of them at Second Baptist Church of Las Vegas where he is a member. The other is a community choir known as GMWA Silver State Choir. Also, Reverend Pou preaches at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church. Before coming to Las Vegas, he was engaged to two beautiful ladies at the same time, a Creole lady from New Orleans, Louisiana, and another from Sandusky, Ohio. He traveled to Las Vegas by way of Ohio. He has affectionate memories of Ohio and his employment at Cedar Point theme park on the shore of Lake Erie just about an hour west of Cleveland. The theme park as he remembers had the largest roller coaster in the world. There were always two places he dreamed of spending the rest of his life, Las Vegas or New Orleans. He chose to live in Las Vegas where he now enjoys the lifestyle it offers.