“The judges (are to) decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.” ~ Deuteronomy 25:1
There is much to like about Rand Paul. As president, he would fight a principled and determined fight against overreaching federal government regulation, burdensome taxation, overspending, and intrusive violations of the 4th Amendment. Noble fights, one and all.
But Rand Paul has an Achilles’ Heel he does not even seem to be aware of. And that is, if his words are to be taken at face value, he would actively deprive blacks and other minorities of the equal protection of our laws.
Paul said yesterday that he is committed to “an America where criminal justice is applied equally and any law that disproportionately incarcerates people of color is repealed.”
Repealed. Not retooled, recalibrated, but repealed. Since laws against murder, drug trafficking, robbery, and assault and battery disproportionately lock up blacks, Sen. Paul declared yesterday he’d repeal them all.
He would leave blacks and Hispanics defenseless against crimes committed against them by other minorities, thus depriving them of the equal and full protection of our laws.
Now this was the speech in which he introduced himself to the American people as a presidential candidate. It was a carefully crafted speech with every word and phrase quite deliberately chosen.
The senator has already tried to walk this statement back, claiming he was referring only to laws against non-violent crimes. But unfortunately, the senator said “any law,” and his statement reveals a deeply disturbing aspect of his view of justice from the man who wants to be our chief law enforcement officer.
The notion of “disparate impact,” which the senator has borrowed from Attorney General Eric Holder, is pernicious. It claims that if minorities are locked up for certain crimes at higher rates than white, this is proof of racism. This is patently ridiculous. If they are committing crimes at disproportionate rates, compared to whites, then they should be locked away at disproportionate rates.
If 80% of the crimes in a city are committed by one demographic group, then fairness would dictate that 80% of the arrests be from that same demographic group. That’s not racism, that’s justice. That’s not racism, that’s equality under the law.
The only way to blunt the disparate impact of the just application of the law is either to change the behavior of those committing the crimes, so that criminal behavior is precisely and equally distributed among all ethnic groups, or to violate the principle of justice by selectively punishing some perps and letting most of them walk.
But here is the problem that Sen. Paul does not get. Who are the primary victims of crimes committed by blacks? Other blacks.
Sen. Paul therefore would be committing himself to removing legal protection from black victims of black crimes. The senator’s plan, for instance, would leave black parents of vulnerable young teens defenseless against drug dealers in their neighborhoods who are peddling their wares to their children.
Bottom line: Sen. Paul declared yesterday that one of his goals is to be the first president in modern history to strip the minority community of the full and equal protection of the law. Oops.
