Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

Technology ups the standards

The development of technology has made the job of criminal prosecutors more demanding. Jurors who have seen the “CSI” (crime scene investigation) programs on television now require a much higher standard of proof.

There is a special conflict for African Americans. Everyone wants to get violent criminals off the streets. At the same time, people are aware that a disproportionate number of blacks have been erroneously convicted and incarcerated.

According to The Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic dedicated to clearing wrongfully convicted individuals, there have been 203 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, and 70 percent of those exonerated have been racial minorities.

In 2006, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office won 77 percent of their homicide prosecutions, according to their data. This statistic compares favorably with U.S. Department of Justice statistics in large urban counties. However, the major burden is on police departments to conduct more thorough investigations.

According to The Innocence Project, DNA exonerees served an average sentence of 12 years. No juror wants to discover that his or her error has cost an innocent defendant 12 years of freedom.

Social costs of foreclosures

The spate of mortgage foreclosures has not yet abated. According to the real estate analysis firm RealtyTrac, foreclosures in 2006 were up 42 percent from the number in 2005. More than 2 million properties were affected. A RealtyTrac report released last Tuesday revealed that foreclosures in May were 90 percent higher than in May of 2006, and the Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported that monthly payments on 15.75 percent of mortgages are more than 30 days late.

The problem began when lenders of adjustable rate mortgages reset their interest rates, thus raising payments to an amount more than the borrowers could afford. Payments of borrowers with fixed rate mortgages were unaffected.

Public comments about the impact of the subprime debacle on the economy have focused primarily on Wall Street. Subprime mortgages have been bundled and sold to Wall Street firms as a package. Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase and others have experienced losses and have been forced to restructure their home mortgage operations. But the public has been assured that Wall Street has been able to absorb the foreclosures without any severe damage to the economy.

However, many of the neighborhoods where the foreclosed homes are located have suffered. Empty buildings and the sudden appearance of numerous “for sale” signs destabilize the neighborhood. All of this has caused the value of homes to fall. For most working families, their home is the biggest asset. A drop in home values causes a decline in net worth.

This crisis is not yet over. Further increases in interest rates could compound the tragedy. Political action will be necessary to find a solution, but that will not be easy. A recent report by the nonprofit group Common Cause indicated that financial institutions spent $220 million in Washington between 1999 and 2006, with about $22 million going toward campaign contributions. This is an enormous political obstacle for the people’s political action to overcome.

It is time for African Americans to focus as aggressively on economic issues as they did on racial discrimination. Only with such an asserted effort can African Americans hope to attain wealth and economic parity.

“I’m ready to sit on the jury — I’ve been watching “CSI” every week.”