Christoper Donovan: In Philly, Failed System… or Failed Demographics?

Christopher Donovan: The Philadelphia Inquirer is running a series on the low rate of convictions secured by police and prosecutors in the city.  The system’s overcrowded.  The sheer volume of cases makes the system unwieldy.  Defense lawyers postpone cases in the hopes that witnesses will disappear.  The black “stop sntichin'” culture keeps witnesses off the stand.  Judges dismiss worthy cases.

So, the blame comes to rest on the White “system” and its players (realizing that many in this system are actually minorities).  But the larger demographic reality is that Philadelphia is a heavily black urban area, and it’s plagued with crime and chaos for just that reason.  Juxtapose this with a criminal justice system that developed over centuries in all-white Britain — and was tweaked by all-white American Constitution framers — and you have a recipe for disaster. In fact, you have a recipe for complete unworkability, no matter how hard whites try, or how many tax dollars are squeezed from Whites.

The failure isn’t with the criminal justice system.  The failure is with the multiracial society.  Will the Inquirer take a look at that?