A 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding affirmative action planted the seeds of its overturning, as justices then and now thought racism an easily solved problem
The ConversationJul 03, 2023
The Facts
In a report published Thursday, three UN-appointed experts called for the overhaul of the US criminal system to combat alleged systemic racism in American prisons.
The UN report claims that US jail practices are an "affront to human dignity," citing instances including incarcerated Black pregnant women being shackled during labor.
The Spin
Left narrative
US authorities must put the recent momentum behind reforms in the US criminal justice system, sparked by Black Lives Matter, to full use. These UN experts have placed before the nation oft-repeated stark truths that must be heeded if authorities want avoid social unrest from spiraling out of control.
Right narrative
Mindless radical reforms to the US criminal justice system could backfire badly on the very people progressives are trying to help. Even marginal reforms in some US cities have led to a spike in crime rates, the burden of which falls disproportionately on low-income, minority communities. There are more pragmatic ways to address this issue.