Anyone who follows the wacky world of politics can easily recall an election campaign (probably several) in which candidates flood the TV ads with claims of being tough on crime. The appeal to voters’ desires of being able to live in a safe home, free of the fear of heinous crimes is a tried-and-true tactic. It works, as evidenced by the fear stoked by Republican strategist Lee Atwater for George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential campaign.
But in reality, what has the tough on crime campaign done since the VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT of 1994, sponsored, by the way, by then-Sen. Joe Biden?
Well, for one, the U.S. now incarcerates MORE PEOPLE PER CAPITA – 698 per 100,000 population – than any other nation. That includes Iran, Russia, China and Third World countries. (Louisiana, by the way, is tops in the nation at 1,052 per 100,000, exceeding the national rate by 50.7 percent).
Why is that?
For openers, there is the case of FAIR WAYNE BRYANT of Shreveport who was sentenced to life imprisonment for…(wait for it)…stealing a pair of hedge clippers. He actually spent nearly 24 years behind bars before eventually being paroled at age 63 when his case was brought to the public’s attention.
Then there is Derek Harris of Abbeville, a veteran of Desert Storm, who received a life sentence to Angola State Prison for selling $30 worth of weed to an undercover sheriff’s deputy. The Louisiana Supreme Court eventually awarded the 52-year-old Harris a new sentencing hearing that allowed him to go free after serving 9 years.
Both Bryant and Harris are Black.
Compare those two life sentences for relatively minor crimes with that of HOLDEN MATTHEWS, who received 25 years for burning down three predominantly African American churches in St. Landry Parish. Matthews, who told the court that he had found God since the arsons, was also ordered to pay the churches $2.6 million. Good luck collecting that, even if he does get out early, which he probably will.
Despite that trend of stiffer penalties for less serious crimes and the accompanying problem of prison overcrowding, Wisconsin Republicans pushed a package of “TOUGHER ON CRIME” bills as recently as last year.
Typically, the proponents of the Wisconsin package would:
- Expand the number of crimes for which juveniles can be incarcerated;
- Increase the penalties for carjacking (currently considered burglary);
- Call for longer sentences for parolees or those on probation who are accused of another crime;
- Institute mandatory minimum sentences for repeat shoplifters.
In a nation where politicians attempt to out-law-and-order their opponents, nothing could be more puzzling than our inability to hold the one person who doubtless incited the invasion of Congress accountable. The fact that this individual, this man named Donald Trump, is solely responsible in causing the constitutional crisis of Jan. 6. But Republican senators have already telegraphed their unwillingness to follow through on their get-tough-on-crime rhetoric.
That he stood before the frothing throng that fateful day there is no question, but rather than admit defeat in an election he lost convincingly, he chose instead to urge his conspiracy-minded followers bent on seeking out and inflicting harm on members of Congress. Now Republicans in the Senate will overlook this perpetuation of sedition and treason in the impeachment trial.
Nearly every Republican is on record in favor of stiff punishment for crime but oppose anything that resembles reform. Take, for example, Sen. John N. Kennedy who is on record as OPPOSING the First Step Act.
So, if stealing hedge clippers and selling 0.69 grams of pot warrant life sentences for a couple of Black offenders, how does 25 years for a white man who torched three Black churches square up?
Better yet, how is it that a criminal, a mob boss, who encourages a treasonous insurrection in the halls of Congress is not facing indictment and criminal prosecution?
Rand Paul claims that impeachment of a former president is unconstitutional. He’s probably wrong but all doubt can be removed if federal prosecutors simply indict Trump.
Why is the fruitless effort to convict him in his impeachment trial even being pursued before spineless Republicans who, while advocating toughness on crime on the one hand when it involves one segment of society, choose to look the other way for one who has influence but utterly no regard for the U.S. Constitution?
There are, of course, penalties spelled out for INCITING To RIOT, so why is the statute not invoked in this case?
Here is the question I would pose for Louisiana Reps. Mike Johnson, Clay Higgins, Steve Scalise and Garret Graves, and Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, each of whom voted against impeachment:
If stealing hedge clippers and selling less than an ounce of pot warrant life sentences, how then in the name of all that is just, is it that inciting mob violence against elected members of Congress during which five people died does not rise to the level of high crimes?
I implore each of those men to provide an answer to that question.
If you fail to respond, I can only hope the question comes up again in your next election campaign.
You owe the citizens of Louisiana that much.
Louisiana Voice 
There is one good thing that should come out of this sad attempt to impeach a traitor president….there will be on record that all of the above named Louisiana elected officials will have answered the question that you challenged them with. It seems fairly certain that they will ALL vote NOT to impeach Trump…this will be a permanent part of their records in Congress. The sad concern is that this will just make them more adored by their Trump voters. What an unholy mess we have here! But, it is good to continually force them to make their positions very clear and state why they do what they do.
It is concerning that the jurors in the impeachment trial are also victims, witnesses and/or co-conspirators to the offenses upon which the impeachment is based. How are Cruz and Hawley able to remain at large and also “serve” in the Senate in any capacity after egging the riotous insurrectionists on themselves? It seems to be a bit of a conflict for these lawyers, if nothing else, such that they should be recused/dismissed from being on a jury for crimes they helped along.
Love the bold letters! Very cool!
Tom, you have presented unequivocal cases of unfairness and how the wheels of justice grind so slowly. I hope to live to see the day when those wheels crush Trump legally and politically. But the elected officials you mention stand in the way. And the blame rests at the feet of those ignorant people who support and elect them.
Why haven’t the persons that instructed and incited the violence that caused the death of a law enforcement officer not being arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder? Why do we not know what happened to the Capitol police officer that was killed with a fire extinguisher? Is there no security video of that? As you so aptly point out, other less privileged persons have been sent away for life for far less heinous offenses. It is unsettling at best.
It seems that both the House of Representatives and the Senate have lost ALL ability to sanction, punish or even expel their errant members. Just look at what the Q ladies are doing to the House Members that they target. Ethics seem to be a thing of the past in our Congress, sadly. It will be interesting to watch ALL of those you named watch the actual attacks on our capitol, the police and the criminal damage they did while evidence is given of their comments and actions and how Trump languished at the White House enjoying the attack as its commander. We will get to see them and judge for ourselves if these are honorable men and women or just power corrupt Trump handmaidens. Chuck Shumer just spoke and gave the justification for this impeachment trial attempt by saying that America needs to watch and hear the full evidence of this insurrection ordered by Trump.
How is it that the Congressional Elected Louisiana Officials (Let’s make that Office Holders) time and again vote for legislation that the nationwide majority of voters/citizens oppose (and vice versa) and yet get re-elected? And why is it that only you caring and intelligent bloggers are speaking up about this shameful condition that persists in Louisiana?
FABULOUS piece and EXCELLENT comments all. It appears the Senate will not even go as far as censuring T***p, much less convicting him via impeachment. Will any federal prosecutors do as Tom suggests? As T***p himself loves to say, “We’ll see.” Do our elected officials, INCLUDING those who had absolutely no role in the insurrection, see that the insurrectionists not only reflect their own biases and dogmas, but ALL people who are fed up with the way we are governed – and that is a figure well north of the 40% who express strong support for the GOP as molded by T***p. Are not all of us who follow politics and justice not sick of the inequities and lack of representation, much less plain common sense? We certainly should be. We have exactly 2 members of our congressional delegation who deserve any consideration for re-election, but let’s see what happens, to again quote T***p.
Yall are freakin crazy!!!!! What about all of the incited violence by the democrats and leftist this past summer?
Insofar as this freakin’ crazy is concerned, all who riot deserve to be prosecuted, no exceptions. But I don’t think anyone was rioting when Trump had peaceful demonstrators tear-gassed so he could walk across the street to that church for a photo-op. What did incite them, however, was the shooting of unarmed Black men or kneeling on the neck of an unarmed Black man until he died or the murder of a harmless gay black man killed for no reason other than the color of his skin. You can bullshit your way around that fact, but it doesn’t change the fact that had the rioters at the Capitol who were searching for members of Congress to capture and execute been black, or had those armed Proud Boys at the Michigan State Capitol, who were intent on capturing the governor and putting her on trial and possibly executing her, been Black, they’d have been gunned down like so many dogs. One can be “freakin’ crazy” and still see that quite clearly.
I think Ms. Daigle that you’re missing the point. I don’t know anyone who has been attacking the peaceful protesters who were peacefully protesting in D. C. We are talking about goons who attacked Capital police as they stormed their way into the Capital building and committed numerous crimes. We are talking about a president of the United States of America who incited them to do so in an effort to prevent electoral ballots from being counted so he could (or so he thought) stay in power. And Tom’s blog was about the inequities in the justice system and politicians refusing to find a president guilty of instigating and fomenting an uprising against another branch of government. People (and the former president) need to be held accountable.
Violence and destruction of property have no place in protests against violence, or anything else. Those who harm others and destroy property lose their credibility and their right to PEACEABLY assemble.
That said, there is a big difference between out-of-control demonstrations against police violence and a bloodthirsty mob storming the US Capitol with the intent of harming or killing elected officials, disrupting a joint session of Congress and attempting to overturn a certified election.
As a wise commentator noted, no one brings firearms and other weapons, a noose, body armor and helmets to a conversation.
Whataboutism just looks foolish.
How does what any protestor or rioter did in the summer justify persons violently and illegally entering the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, at the behest of the president and others in power, in order to disrupt the counting of State-certified Electoral College Votes through violence and intimidation? Is this your version of the “I know you are, but what I am?” child-like defense?
Well…. Ms Daigle… what about all of the incited violence by ex-president trump during the past four years? I guess you’ll want to ask “what about her emails” next? As if any of that whataboutism is relevant to the trump insurrection.
The one and only encouraging factor in the quest for the truth in law enforcement’s response to the insurrection and attack on the Capitol is the fact that the investigation will be led by retired Army General Russel Honore’ of Louisiana. In his own words, he doesn’t take shit from anyone. It’s probable that his investigation will also clearly identify the genesis of the attack as well. Criminal charges may well follow for both inciting the riot and the wholly inadequate police and National Guard defense of the Capitol.
Only a dumbass would write an article like this. The riot was planned in November. Read the news.
And that absolves Trump of any responsibility how?
Did anyone get Tom’s sublimInal hidden message?
For QAnon supporters or for others interested, here is a story about recovery from the brainwashing.
https://apnews.com/article/qanon-conspiracy-theory-recovery-4ea47c2966a41b30ae678e5f471f6070
great learned article! Love my Army, including the National
Guard/Reserves, I,m with General Honore ron thompson
“What about all of the incited violence by the democrats and leftist this past summer?”
The keyword you used Ms. Daigle is “incited”. No Democratic leader or so call leftist leader appeared on television or appeared at any peaceful protest and used language to incite violence. The violence at the summer protests was not condoned by the Democratic leadership and many condemned it. However, trump laid the groundwork for what happened on January 6th long before the election. He stirred the pot of discontent before and after the election and then turn the heat up to high on the 6th. Instead of condemning the violent acts of his supporters, he condoned them. Also, if you have been keeping up with the news, you will notice that many of those arrested are saying they were just following the orders from their leader, trump.
Louisiana will rob you blind and Violate your rights and they are just criminals in suits and robes especially Webster parish. I. Not proud.
Okay, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that. Give me some particulars.
Roger Stone buddy with Richard Nixon 1960s-70s (Bebe Rebozo).516 and 500 Bay Lane Key Biscayne Miami Fla. E .Howard Hunt Address 11337 NE 8th Ct Biscayne Park, Fla. Gerry P Hemming 2450 N.W. North River Dr. Miami, Fla. Frank Fiorini SturgisN.W.122nd St N Miami Fla. Rolando Martinez (Watergate burglar) 1830 Sw 2nd Ave Miami, Fla.(Nixon’s/Rebozo 516 and 500 bay Lane Key Biscayne Miami Fla) Hoover visit place did Roger Stone in Miami Fla? Roger Stone has Nixon on his back tattooed ?So wasn’t Nixon in Dallas 11-22-63 and LBJ in car behind JFK limousine? Roger Stone try to make Nixon into some kind of Hero but Stone accuses LBJ but Stone doesn’t mention Nixon hated Kennedy’s? So if Stone loved Nixon he must of hated the Kennedys too ? For conspiracy theorists can’t believe Roger Stone? As we only analyze-research for the truth ? We do not believe in violence? We believe in USA -It’s History old statues that show history of where we came from and learn from our mistakes? Only then can we become better people in this world? Look at Pilgrims , Look at George Washington (1st pres.) who had slaves & Thomas Jefferson (gal Sally) and lots of politicians past had slaves ? So Blacks need to get over it – move on – learn from past and proud where they are now unless their slave to bad addictions/bad vices, bad habits, bad morals /bad values that make slave to bad things ?Get back Roger Stone: Youtube Roger Stone jan6,2021 take pictures with people with military fatigues /green coat / black hat with black-brown hair with sideburns with goatee(slight beard) take a picture with Roger Stone? video man talks to Roger Stone ;He: what question should _ask Roger Stone? “Appreciate you .(shake Hands roger stone) Thankyou very much. Hopefully _ _ have this thing today right? Roger Stone replys: “We shall see. “He:(repeats roger stone)We shall see. “Are hoping so.”
^^^ perfect example of what foreign information operations against Americans looks like.