Double racial-egalitarian whammy: allow felons in prison to vote, while eliminating police hiring exams
Richard W. writes:
The liberal religious belief in the equality of all people is making society ungovernable.
In the State of Washington we have a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court re-writing our laws to enable felons, while in prison, to vote. Their logic? There are a disproportionate number of blacks in jail, so the system must be racist, so it violates the Voting Rights Act. Why bother with elections and lawmaking at all? [LA replies: Again, right-liberalism (procedural equality for all individuals) morphs, seemingly inevitably, into left-liberalism (guaranteed equality of results for all groups). The impetus seems unstoppable, which suggests that liberal society in any form, even the most moderate, will eventually turn to leftist insanity such as this. Which could almost make one agree with Mencius Moldbug’s advocacy of a return to Renaissance style despotism. Except where did such despotism ultimately lead? To liberalism.]
Even better Chicago is set to drop their entrance examination for the police force. Better to have unqualified people in the job then a lack of minorities.
There are days when I wonder if our society is even worth saving. There is so much stupidity and tribalism now evident in our official bodies that one can only wish for a total reset. It becomes exhausting to just note the non-stop deconstruction, much less fight it. [LA replies: Yes, I feel that too at times. But would it be possible to construct an alternative, independent political society that rejected modern America?]
Here are the articles Richard sent on Chicago’s proposed elimination of police exams and the Ninth Circuit’s institution of the felon franchise:
Police May Scrap Entrance Exam: Report
The Chicago Police Department is seriously considering scrapping the police entrance exam, sources tell Fran Spielman.
Dropping the exam would bolster minority hiring and avert legal battles, according to one source, while others confirm that the exam could be scrapped to open the process to as many people as possible.
However, the lack of an exam would make Chicago the lone major city without one, and experts contend that the exam is integral to eliminating unqualified applicants.
The CPD has tried in recent years to boost minority hiring by offering the police exam online and turning to minority clergy to help in the recruitment effort.
But those efforts have met with frustration. Despite seeing an increase in the number of minority applicants in 2006, the last year the exam was offered, the online component was never launched.
And as of last year, one in four patrol officers were African-American, but just one in 12 Lieutenants were of color.
Officials at City Hall have admitted that they have been exploring exam options since last fall, according to the Sun-Times.
The CPD is currently operating at 2,000 officers-a-day short of its authorized strength. Police hired only 46 officers this year, with plans to hire less than 100 next year—and those hirings rely on federal funds.
What’s more, City Hall has floated the idea of imposing cop furloughs to meet a tight budget.
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Court Says Convicted Felons Entitled To Vote
Wednesday, Jan 6, 2010
(Seattle, WA)—A federal appeals court has thrown out Washington state’s restrictions on felon voting.
Under current state law, residents convicted of a felony lose the right to vote until they’re released from custody and and free of Department of Corrections supervision.
Yesterday’s split ruling by a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel puts those restrictions in doubt.
Two members of the three judge panel ruled the state restrictions unfairly penalize minorities.
Joined by Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the majority opinion, Judge A. Wallace Tashima found that blacks and Latinos faced arrest and prosecution at rates far higher than could be explained simply by increased criminal activity.
The ruling is believed to mark the first time an appeals court has overturned a state’s prohibition on voting by felons.
Reacting to the ruling, Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed said the court’s decision came as a surprise, because three circuit court panels elsewhere in the country came to opposite conclusions after reviewing similar cases.
Reed said he believes the state prohibition against prisoner voting is still appropriate.
[end of article]
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John Dempsey writes:
Are these people totally blind to the damage that the lowering or outright dismissal of any and all standards is doing to our country? Shouldn’t the banking crisis be an object lesson of some sort?
I feel I’ve awakened in some grotesque, inverted world. These are certainly frustrating times. You ask:
“But would it be possible to construct an alternative, independent political society that rejected modern America?”
I’m with you there!
Posted by Lawrence Auster at January 06, 2010 04:04 PM | Send