Rand Paul On Ferguson – Policing Skewed By Race

Rand Paul has a few things to say about the policing in Ferguson, MO.

In this context, Senator Paul stood out for the passion of his attack on what he sees as a national trend toward overly militarized police forces and, as a Republican, for explicitly raising the issue of systematized racial bias against blacks.

“The images and scenes we continue to see in Ferguson resemble war more than traditional police action,” Paul wrote in an op-ed for Time magazine’s online edition.

“Anyone who thinks that race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention,” Paul added.

So let’s look at what Paul had to say in Time Magazine.

When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury—national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture — we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.

Given these developments, it is almost impossible for many Americans not to feel like their government is targeting them. Given the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.

The items I have bolded are all drug war issues. Amply covered in this blog. Maybe we will finally get the issue on the table nationally. It is about time.

In the mean time Commenter Frank brought to my attention this post that may explain why Republicans generally are so bad on the Drug War. They are being paid to oppose it.

Despite Amendment 2’s broad support among Florida voters, many of the state’s GOP elected officials are speaking out against the measure, including Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio (another potential presidential contender) and much of the legislature’s Republican leadership.

Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson, who’s heavily involved in presidential elections, has spent $2.5 million against the initiative, the Tampa Bay Times reported in June.

Political observers note that a medical marijuana ballot initiative could help increase Democratic turnout during a midterm election year.

Ben Pollara, campaign manager for United for Care, the group that pushed to get the measure on the ballot, said in a statement it’s “surprising” that Bush would “take a position so out of step with the voters who twice elected him to the highest office in the state.”

I discuss Adelson and Republican donor and fundraiser Mel Sembler at some more length in my post Republican Big Money Donor Tortured Children For Profit.

And I probably should throw in a link to the book everyone is quoting on the issue:

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces


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One response to “Rand Paul On Ferguson – Policing Skewed By Race”

  1. Randy Avatar
    Randy

    Kudos to Sen. Paul for his statements.

    As for Republican opposition to MMJ in Florida, I guess it’s hard for committed drug warriors to give up the war. When you’ve believed all your life that enforcing the drug laws was the “right thing to do”™, you just can’t admit you might have been wrong in thinking that. It’s like legalizing murder in their minds. In their world there is no such thing as benign or beneficial usage of prohibited drugs. They are blind to reality.