Well, I know whites are starting to feel like victims, however your communities aren't destroyed, most of your people aren't economically dispossed, your young men don't feel margialized to the point that they have no hope. I could go on and on. The man was trying to reach out in a different way. I applaud him for it. You are putting your question out there like black people have somehow reached some sort of parity with the rest of America. Wake up and look around!

Sent by Hopkins | 11:40 PM ET | 04-02-2008

Interesting. Usually, if i recall the scenario, it is usually a white jurist who calls the white lawyers into his chambers away from the general populace and the courtroom to do the private non-recorded face to face chats about defendants. So, M. Arrington's methodology in this instance is warranted and good since he as a jurist of the people was well within his capacity to speak to the people within his courtroom off the record directly and outside of the earshot of potential litigatious colleagues [of any race but mainly white] who might wish to utilise some of his message as springboard to upseat him come election time [like claiming the defendant rights were somehow violated]. Sometimes folks don't like Africans telling Africans the true. Besides, if there were no black nor brown bodies filling up the court's sentencing docket then there would be no conga line of public defenders nor district attorneys on the public payroll and so too no need for increasing local and state taxation for more police people and/or incarceration facilities. Sometimes segregation is a good thing. And if this is the paradigm for getting our kids to respect their elders and themselves to end the stupid stuff then this practice should become default working methodology for alternative sentencing across the board in criminal legal practice to curtail and dimish recidivism [or the revolving door of prison hotel as i call it] of blacks and browns within the criminal justice system complex.

In my view M. Arrington has nothing to regret but you didnt hear that from me...

Sent by K Mjumbe | 4:55 AM ET | 04-03-2008

Hopkins: our communities HAVE been destroyed - by blacks (I use that term since you you used "whites") and the drugs, violence, crime and the ACCEPTANCE of those things which is displayed in every black neighborhood and every piece of black culture exported from the ghetto. So we moved out of those areas to new ones. And they are ruined by an inevitable influx of non-contributing leeches being moved by burned down projects and other Section 8 tragedies to fertile new grounds to be pillaged once again.
That said, I don't think Judge Arrington's actions were inappropriate. At least he was trying to send a message to his people to take responsibility for their actions instead of blaming "The Man."

Sent by Skippy | 12:03 PM ET | 04-03-2008