The Other McCain

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The Logical Conclusion of ‘Social Justice’

Posted on | September 9, 2021 | Comments Off on The Logical Conclusion of ‘Social Justice’

When mobs rioted in Minneapolis last year, the chaos and destruction became a fundraising opportunity for the Minneapolis Freedom Fund (MFF), an organization dedicated to keeping criminals on the street. Simply put, MFF bail suspects out of jail, no questions asked:

The non-profit Minnesota Freedom Fund says this system of bail is “unjust,” and that wealth should never determine who is kept in jail, which is exactly what the American bail system does. In 2016, the non-profit formed and began raising funds and bailing Minnesota residents out of jail.
“We have always prioritized those who are unable to pay for freedom and face the greatest level of danger and marginalization,” wrote Greg Lewin, MFF interim director. . . .
“Putting it bluntly, cash bail is an abusive system that criminalizes poverty and takes a disproportionate toll on Black people, indigenous people, and people of color. It doesn’t matter whether you are guilty or innocent – if you cannot afford to post your bail, you will stay in jail until your trial,” wrote MFF’s Lewin. . . .
“Our goal has always been to free as many people as possible and then put ourselves out of business by ending pretrial detention,” Lewin wrote. . . .
For MFF, it’s not about the crime, but the system.
“I often don’t even look at a charge when I bail someone out,” Lewin said. “I will see it after I pay the bill because it is not the point. The point is the system we are fighting.”

It is an abuse of language on a grand scale to say that requiring bail “criminalizes poverty.” The Eighth Amendment of our Constitution reads: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Interestingly enough, that language is borrowed from the English Bill of Rights of 1689, a statement inspired by the punishment of Titus Oates, the perjurer who fabricated “The Popish Plot” and sent innocent men to their deaths.

Who can say whether the bail requirement in any particular case is “excessive”? Over the years, the question has been examined by legislatures, courts and commissions. Certainly the intent is not to “criminalize poverty” and, as our Constitution also guarantees (Sixth Amendment) the right to a speedy trial, our nation’s jails are not filled with innocent men languishing behind bars for no good reason.

If you know anything about how the criminal justice system actually works, the real cost of bail is usually 10% of the amount assessed. You go to a bail bondsman, sign an agreement that makes you liable for the entire amount if you don’t show up in court, and pay 10% up front. So if bail is assessed at $10,000, you (or your family members) only have to come up with $1,000 — not an “excessive” amount. There was an entire reality show, Dog The Bounty Hunter, about rounding up bail-jumpers who skipped out after signing bond agreements.

This is the “system” which MFF is “fighting.” Why are they fighting the system? Because the system works — MFF is run by radicals who want to destroy America, period, and destroying the criminal justice system is merely part of that radical agenda. When I say that the existing bail system works, what I mean is that, because the vast majority of criminals in America’s jails are actually guilty, bailing them out between the time of their arrest and the time of their trial would only grant them more opportunity to commit crimes. Simple question: Why do you think nobody who actually knows them is willing to bail them out?

Suppose your son or your brother, whom you know to be a law-abiding citizen in general, goes to a party and gets into a drunken fight that results in him being arrested on an assault charge. Such things happen when people get drunk at parties, and you don’t condone this behavior, but this is the first time your son or brother has ever had any problem with the law, and it is reasonable for you to hope that he will be able to get a plea deal to avoid prison. So his bail is set at $5,000 and you go to the bail bondsman, sign the agreement and pay $500 so he can go back to work while he awaits trial. This is the “system.” It works.

The system also works (or, at least it did, before the “social justice” mob got involved) in terms of keeping career criminals behind bars. Most serious crime in America is committed by a comparative handful of habitual criminals who cycle in and out of the criminal justice system. They’re either behind bars or they’re committing crimes — never once in their lives have they done anything else. So the 18-year-old is convicted of robbery, sent to prison for a couple of years, gets back on the street and within a matter of weeks or months, is arrested again. Is anyone who knows this 20-year-old felon going to bail him out? Probably not, and therefore he will remain locked up in jail until he cops a plea deal and goes to prison, where he belongs. Problem solved — the system works.

Unless you’re a criminal, or the kind of radical who wants to destroy America, there’s nothing wrong with our bail system. And turning loose dangerous criminals has serious consequences:

A bail fund promoted by Vice President Kamala Harris helped lead to the release of an alleged Minneapolis domestic abuser — who has been charged with murder in a road-rage slaying.
George Howard, 47, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting Luis Damian Martinez Ortiz, 38, during a road-rage incident on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis on Aug. 29, KSTP reported.
Surveillance video reportedly showed Ortiz getting out of his blue BMW and approaching Howard’s white Volvo before Howard shot the other man and fled. Ortiz died from a gunshot wound to the chest, officials said.
Just weeks earlier, Howard, a Minneapolis man barred from having a firearm due to previous convictions, was released on $11,500 bond in a domestic assault case on Aug. 6, court records cited by Fox News show. He was bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund — which was touted last year by Harris.

Wait a minute — you’re driving a Volvo, but you can’t afford to pay bail? Do victims of oppression drive Volvos? It would have cost George Howard only $1,150 to get out of jail, and surely a Volvo driver should be able to come up with such a modest amount, so why did MFF even need to get involved? Oh, let me guess: It’s because they piled up such a huge stash of cash last year that MFF is now so desperate to spend this money that they’re bailing out all kinds of criminals, no questions asked.

Knowing what we know about criminal recidivism rates, it is merely a matter of arithmetic — statistical probability — that many of those bailed out by MFF will subsequently be charged with serious crimes committed while they were free on bail. What was George Howard’s record?

Howard’s criminal history in Minnesota includes three convictions for disorderly conduct, and one each for assault and for illegal weapons possession.

Convicted felons are prohibited from possessing firearms. George Howard had at least five convictions on his record — note the qualifying phrase “in Minnesota,” which suggests Howard may have a record in other states — and while “disorderly conduct” may describe trivial misdemeanors, we don’t know the facts of those cases. Very commonly, a misdemeanor conviction is the result of a plea bargain in which the suspect was originally charged with a felony, e.g., arrested for assault, but pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Whatever the specifics of the disorderly conduct cases on Howard’s record, the “illegal weapons possession” charge indicates he had at least one prior conviction that disqualified him from firearms possession, and that was before he was charged with domestic violence. Anyone who investigated Howard’s record would conclude that he had violent tendencies, exactly the kind of tendencies that would lead to shooting somebody in a “road rage” incident. But remember George Lewin said he usually doesn’t “even look at a charge when I bail someone out,” because the point is “the system.”

The reason Kamala Harris endorsed this radical organization is because she shares their goal of destroying “the system.” That’s what the riots in Minneapolis and other cities last year were really about — the idea that “social justice” requires complete destruction of our society, especially including law enforcement. Kamala Harris and MFF want to empty the prisons and turn loose an army of violent criminals to terrorize America, which is why MFF bailed out a previously convicted sex offender who was accused of raping an 8-year-old girl. If you voted for Kamala Harris, that is the agenda that you were voting for. And it’s everywhere now.

There is no place in America where you are safe, because Democrats everywhere are committed to an agenda of turning loose dangerous criminals who ought to be behind bars. In any community where Democrats elect the district attorney (i.e., most major American cities), this agenda of “social justice” is abetting robbery, rape and murder.




 

Category: Crime, Democrats, Minnesota

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