Paul L. Caron
Dean





Monday, June 22, 2020

The Killings Of George Floyd And Dan Markel: The System Brutally Punishes Poor People Of Color While Wealthy Whites Walk Free

Tallahassee Democrat op-ed:  In Minneapolis or Tallahassee, People Of Color Are Arrested While the Wealthy White Walk, by Jason Solomon (Stanford):

Floyd AdelsonMinneapolis, 2020: A man is suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store. The police are called. The story of the killing of George Floyd is now well-known.

Tallahassee, 2014: Two hitmen murder FSU law professor Dan Markel in broad daylight in Betton Hills. Upon their arrest, police reveal that their only link to Markel is that one of them has children with Katie Magbanua, then-girlfriend of Markel’s ex-brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson.

When interviewed by police, Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson says her brother Charlie had talked about hiring a hitman to murder Markel. This is corroborated by testimony of one hitman; and in the 2019 trial, the prosecutor and defense agreed they believed Charlie and his mother Donna were involved in orchestrating Markel’s murder.

Six years later, neither Charlie Adelson — a wealthy white South Florida dentist — nor his mother has been arrested, while the three who have been arrested are all poor people of color.

This is the two-tiered system of justice we have in the United States — a system that brutally punishes poor people of color, while treating with kid gloves the white and wealthy.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/06/the-killings-of-george-floyd-and-dan-markel-the-system-brutally-punishes-poor-people-of-color-while-.html

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Comments

Rob: I paint with a broad brush, but it's nothing personal. I've lived too long in a deep blue state where my elected representatives essentially do that every day to the 30-40% of residents who don't vote for them.

Posted by: MM | Jun 29, 2020 8:26:24 PM

Gerald: "Not to me they aren't. Are they to you?"

When are you going to address the facts that have been laid out here?

I can only conclude that you, like BLM and the press and the Democratic Party, don't think Tony Timpa's life mattered at all.

If you did, you'd have said so by now.

Posted by: MM | Jun 29, 2020 8:23:02 PM

MM: "Voters are paying attention nationwide." They sure are, and Trump's negative ratings go higher every day.
Anon: "Facts are bothersome things." Not to me they aren't. Are they to you?

Posted by: Gerald Scorse | Jun 28, 2020 10:25:44 AM

MM:

I consider myself on the Left, and yet I actually appreciate the voice of reason and the objective scan you bring to the subject. So, don't lump us all into one category, either, please. ;-) (And by the way, as a native Texan who still follows news in my home state, the case of Tony Tampa leapt immediately to mind, as well).

Posted by: Rob T. | Jun 28, 2020 6:57:38 AM

@Gerald Scorse: Facts are bothersome things.

Posted by: Anon | Jun 27, 2020 10:58:32 PM

Correction: It's a racist stereotype common to white, female leftists these days. I observed on the news one such hysterical example screaming in the face of a black cop, claiming he was part of an oppressive, racist system. She also said she didn't believe he was even married to a black woman.

Keep letting it all hang out. Voters are paying attention nationwide.

Posted by: MM | Jun 27, 2020 5:03:27 PM

Gerald "Hadn't realized that one of the officers involved in Floyd's death was in fact black."

And another is Asian. But leaving aside the other points I made that you've conspicusouly avoided addressing, why don't you just admit it: Whenever you hear about the killing of a black suspect, you just assume the police officers involved are always white?

This is a very common and racist stereotype amongst leftists these days, particularly white leftists.

Posted by: MM | Jun 27, 2020 4:27:36 PM

Hadn't realized that one of the officers involved in Floyd's death was in fact black: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/us/minneapolis-police-officer-kueng.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Posted by: Gerald Scorse | Jun 27, 2020 5:12:40 AM

John: "when the system is forced by the glare of public scrutiny to work in ways it would not ordinarily"

At the risk of repeating myself, you'd have to conclude that George Floyd's life mattered far more than Tony Timpa's, who was killed in almost identical circumstances, and was also caught on video, and none of the officers involved were held to account for their actions. I'm not seeing the "systematic racism" in the former case, given that the latter case was never elevated to the "glare of public scrutiny."

Posted by: MM | Jun 23, 2020 7:17:16 PM

Gerald: Boy, you've provided a veritable cornucopia of truth and wisdom today.

"Is there *any* area where we don't have a two-tiered system?"

Please name those two tiers. And if you say "black" and "white", which is evidently how you view the world, exclusively, I'd like an explanation as to why none of those tiers are Asian, for example, or Jewish. I'd really like to understand the logic behind your sloganeering.

"The officers involved aren't 'white or otherwise'; they're white."

Let me get this straight, you're labeling Officers James Kueng and Tou Thao "white"? That's fascinating, you're clearly following the story quite closely, huh?

"Seems to happen a lot that way: white officers shoot and kill black men."

Only if you ignore cases like like Andrew Thomas, Brandon Stanley, Daniel Shaver, Dylan Noble, Jeremy Mardis, Michael Parker, and Tony Timpa. I could continue to rattle off many, many, *many* more names thanks to the Washington Post, the list of young white men killed by the police is longer than any other group, but I'll just cut to the chase: Did their lives matter, in your opinion?

Because their cases never made national headlines. The press never cared, nor did BLM, and there were no protests on their behalf, let alone rioting, looting, and wholesale destruction of the communities they lived in.

Would anyone like to explain that for me?

Posted by: MM | Jun 23, 2020 7:05:21 PM

"...George Floyd's death is still being investigated, and the officers involved, white or otherwise, may face very steep prison sentences when the system is allowed to work."

MM: 1. There never would have been an investigation at all if someone hadn't filmed it with their smartphone; 2. The officers involved aren't "white or otherwise"; they're white.

Seems to happen a lot that way: white officers shoot and kill black men.
An accident? Please.

Posted by: Gerald Scorse | Jun 23, 2020 7:24:46 AM

Maybe the wealthy part does almost all of the heavy lifting—as opposed to the color part. Food for thought.

Try again Marxists; you’ll fail with color, just like you failed with class.

Posted by: Anon | Jun 23, 2020 1:26:32 AM

"...when the system is allowed to work."

Rather: "... when the system is forced by the glare of public scrutiny to work in ways it would not ordinarily."

Posted by: John | Jun 23, 2020 1:25:43 AM

Two problems with making racialized arguments like this.

First, George Floyd's death is still being investigated, and the officers involved, white or otherwise, may face very steep prison sentences when the system is allowed to work.

Second, a murder-for-hire plot requires evidence to charge and convict the perpetrators. I've yet to see any evidence that those implicated are actually innocents being railroaded.

Talk about a strikeout from the editorial department...

Posted by: MM | Jun 22, 2020 11:47:02 AM

"This is the two-tiered system of justice we have in the United States — a system that brutally punishes poor people of color, while treating with kid gloves the white and wealthy."

We also have a two-tiered economy, a two-tiered health care system, a two-tiered educational system. Question: Is there *any* area where we don't have a two-tiered system?

Posted by: Gerald Scorse | Jun 22, 2020 7:00:44 AM