Official Discretion Changes the Meaning of the Law on the Ground

The US Department of Justice issued its report on Ferguson on March 4, 2015.  That report is as much about an aggressive and illegal approach to police work as it about judicial discretion gone awry and city political leaders using police fine collection as a major source of revenue, both reflecting and reinforcing racial bias in the city of 26,000. 

Here is a link to the full report.  102 pages, but well worth a close reading.

Among the numerous disturbing findings in this report, one that stands out for me is this one:  Black residents were more than two times more likely to be searched (among those in vehicle stops) even though black drivers stopped and searched accounted for only 26% of contraband discovered in a search following a vehicular stop. 

Meaning:  not only are blacks stopped more than twice as often, but these stops are a waste of taxpayer funds, because the stops are not linked to crime or contraband…but to race.

Finally, another interesting finding involves the city’s contention that the disparate impact is a result of a ‘lack of personal responsibility’ among blacks in the city. 

“Even as Ferguson City officials maintain the harmful stereotype that black individuals lack personal responsibility—and continue to cite this lack of personal responsibility as the cause of the disparate impact of Ferguson’s practices— white City officials condone a striking lack of personal responsibility among themselves and their friends. Court records and emails show City officials, including the Municipal Judge, the Court Clerk, and FPD supervisors assisting friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and themselves in eliminating citations, fines, and fees” (74).

Somehow the glaring and harmful lack of personal and professional responsibility of white leaders in Ferguson—manifest in the lack of accountability and respect for the law among city, court and police personnel—constitutes leadership?