this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2024
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It kinda sucks that Trump got convicted of 34 felonies because now I'm seeing so many people thinking felon = bad, when in fact convicted felons are disproportionately people of color who were convicted for things that shouldn't be crimes at all such as drugs, or based on the thinnest of evidence by strongly biased juries.

Look up Fontae Buelow for one obvious example -- all white jury, the corrupt judge dismissed a dissenting juror, the same corrupt judge was appointed to the retrial, and the more you look into this case, the more obvious it is this man is not guilty.

That's just one example. This happens all across the US, over and over again -- people stripped of their rights, denied justice. I was in jail in a community that was 75% white, but nearly every person in my cell besides me was Native, Hispanic, or Black. This is typical of any jail or prison in nearly any location in the US, because our institutions were deliberately created to do this.

And yes, I'm glad Trump got at least a taste of our "justice" system, and I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade here -- but the main takeaway here should NOT be that felons are bad people who are undeserving of equity. Trump is a bad person whether he's a felon or not, and many felons are good people -- and even if they're NOT good people, they're still people worthy of regard and basic respect, worthy to be treated as fellow humans who are equals.

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[–] zcd@lemmy.ca 19 points 5 months ago

Trump giving felons a bad name, what a time

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It is more that MAGAts think felon = bad.

So we are just trying to show them Turbo Genocide Donny is bad by their own logic.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Totally understandable! But I've definitely seen people implying that being a felon is itself bad, or that felons shouldn't have the same rights as non-felons.

[–] RiikkaTheIcePrincess@pawb.social 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I saw mention of felons being unable to vote but able to run for president and it kinda took a while to sink in but now it's so irritating I've gotta post about it :-\ It's really glaring (and galling) that it's somehow okay to take a person's "voice in politics" unless they're rich and powerful enough to be on top in the political game-system-thing. A president can do much more than vote (especially if they get elected for breaking the rules that only restrict lower classes) but some random person getting punished for their skin colour can't. They get the same Facebook algorithms as anyone else. No TV time, no millions of views on every incoherent xit they take, no ability to just pardon people for openly committing crimes for them.

Simply put, even convictions in this hellhole have positive or negative value depending on one's class and that's proper vile.

Edit to clarify, I'm not saying that both voting and running for office should be disallowed for all felons. Both should be allowed if we're gonna pretend to be a free and fair society. ... Though I wouldn't cry too loudly if there were a maximum private wealth limit. Nyeh!

[–] Dendr0@fedia.io 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

This whole "devalue the meaning of felon" seems like an interesting play from the GOP. That and linking Trump in a positive light to PoC.

Rather disingenuous if you ask me.

Wait, who's linking Trump in a positive light to POC? Please report that so I can remove it.

Not sure what you mean by devaluing the meaning of felon. Has the term ever had much value beyond upholding an oppressive slave state?

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Just because someone is a felon doesn't make them a bad person no but it also depends on what the felony is and whether it was justified. Sure there are unjust laws out there but generally if someone is charged with a felony it's because they committed a crime and I'm not sure I'd consider most criminals as good people.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Did you not read my post? The US judicial system is unfair and unjust by design. The average felon is no worse than the average person you meet on the street every day. Not to mention all the blatantly unjust reasons people are imprisoned, such as failing to recognize colonial borders, or failing to grovel before the "good" and "right" people.

We have a sitting president who's guilty of more murder than the worst serial killer in history, but he's apparently guilty of no crime. Systems like property investment agencies and hospitals can extort you to the point of death, yet they're doing it the "right" way.

And the cherry atop the shit sundae is that our "justice" institutions never restore, only destroy.

You've been deceived if you think there's any justice here. Even the "bad criminals" are being made worse by the system. In fact, it is most of all our inequitable system that creates criminals in the first place.

This is a leftist community. Please don't defend inherently racist and classist systems here. Please and thank you.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I don't belong to any particular political affiliation no need to be hostile.

[–] RiikkaTheIcePrincess@pawb.social 2 points 5 months ago

This isn't really a matter of team sports, more a matter of principle.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

This is an important societal issue, so I find it imperative that I don't allow anyone to undermine the very points that I was making in my post.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I feel like if you are wanting your points to not be undermined, you may want to adjust how you speak to others because it's not helping your cause.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Incorrect. You undermined my post unprompted in a top level comment, and this is expressly not a debate community.

[–] JCreazy@midwest.social 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Got it. That tells me everything I need to know about the community.

To be fair, I'm sorry I came across as an asshole.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

On the other hand, there are plenty of people who belong in jail for a reason

I'm not at all convinced this is true. Most of the people who supposedly do belong in jail are only there because they were failed by an oppressive system, and jails serve no restorative purpose, but mostly exacerbate the problems.

As I pointed out to someone else, we have a president who's guilty of more murder than the worst serial killer in history, yet we won't put him in jail. If jails and prisons are supposed to help us, then we're putting the wrong people there, not those who are most responsible for exploiting and killing us.