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Ben Carson on Crime

Tea Party challenger in Republican primary

 


Arrests for "Driving While Black" is common

Q: What about "DWB," that black men experience "driving while black." I have black friends who tell me, "I drive in a white neighborhood, and if I'm not doing the speed limit, I'm going to get pulled over."

CARSON: That does happen.

Q: Has that ever happened to you?

CARSON: Yes. The attorney general of Missouri, last year, had a report that came out that said in the Ferguson area [where a police killing of a young black man sparked riots], blacks were seven times more likely to be stopped, and twice as more likely to be arrested.

Q: Whose fault is that?

CARSON: Well, the real question is, what can we do about this kind of situation? You know, everybody's going to be off in their little corners. And people are product of their life experiences. But can we actually solve this problem? And there are a lot of things that we can probably talk about.

Source: Meet the Press 2014 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Nov 30, 2014

Equip police with body cameras to avoid abusiveness

Q: What can be done about riots in Ferguson [where a police officer killed of an unarmed young black man and was acquitted]?

CARSON: There are a lot of things. For instance, police being equipped with cameras.

Q: There is a movement of having the cameras on this.

CARSON: 85% of these things would be stopped by that.

OTHER GUEST: Rialto, California equipped their police officers with body-worn cameras, and the crime rate dropped, and the also the complaints about abuse by police officers.

Source: Meet the Press 2014 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Nov 30, 2014

Develop inner city resources to build alternatives to crime

Q: How do you characterize the shooting of Michael Brown by that police officer in Ferguson MO?

BEN CARSON: I think the issues are really much bigger than what has been portrayed to be. I've seen police excesses, living in inner city Detroit and inner city Boston. But I've seen a lot more situations where the police saved the situation. And I'm not sure that this is a police versus black community issue. You know, anger issues get in the way. And if you take race out of the issue altogether, and you take a group of young men and you raise them with no respect for authority, not learning to take on personal responsibility, having easy access to drugs and alcohol, they're very likely to end up as victims of violence or incarceration. It has nothing to do with race. So, yes, is there racism? Are there problems? Yes. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But we need to start looking at bigger issues here. We have to develop our resources appropriately.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2014 interview of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Aug 24, 2014

On Trayvon: It's not a perfect system, but is best we have

Q: Let's start with the president's remarks in which he talks about being profiled as a young black man:

OBAMA: If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that--from top to bottom--both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

REP. DONNA EDWARDS: When I talk to my son who's 24 and to his peers, what they say is that the president gave them their voice for their experiences.

Q: Dr. Carson, some conservatives are criticizing the president for making this about race again. Do you agree?

CARSON: I understand why there's a lot of outrage. You have a situation where you have a young black male, walking home, not doing anything incorrect, and he ends up killed and nobody suffers any consequences. On the surface, that would appear to be a gross miscarriage of justice. It's not a perfect system. But it's the best system that we have. We have to decide whether we are willing to live with that or not.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2013 interview of Ben Carson , Jul 21, 2013

On "Stand Your Ground": Turn down the rhetoric

Q: In Florida, blacks have made 1/3 of the claims under "Stand Your Ground" in homicide cases they were involved in--double their representation of the population of Florida. What do you think?

CARSON: Well, I think we have a tendency to overemphasize superficial aspects of people. And that's what Martin Luther King was talking about when he said let's talk about the content of one's character rather than the superficial characteristics. We need to tone down this rhetoric. Those of us in leadership positions need to be looking for things that we can take out of the situation that will be helpful. Not things that inflame the situation. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't look carefully at all of our laws, we shouldn't look carefully at this verdict and its outcome. Make sure that everything has been done correctly. But let's tone down the rhetoric and recognize that we, the people, are not each other's enemies.

Source: Fox News Sunday 2013 interview of Ben Carson , Jul 21, 2013

Imagine the mayhem if all police protection were removed

I have great admiration for the police, who risk their lives on a daily basis to protect our lives, freedom, and property. Remove all police protection in our society for just a day, and imagine the mayhem that would ensue. Sure, corruption exists in some police departments, because police officers are human beings like the rest of us; give power to human beings and corruption naturally follows. But police provide far greater good than bad in our society.
Source: America the Beautiful, by Ben Carson, p.167 , Jan 24, 2012

Motorcyclists not wearing helmets consume medical resources

On numerous occasions, a motorcyclist with no helmet on would whiz past us, seemingly without a care in the world. I had to fight feelings of anger as I thought about how often I was awakened at 2 AM to respond to a severe head trauma case from a motorcyclist who was not wearing a helmet. That motorcyclist had every right to neglect his own safety, and at that time, that right was protected by law.

Subsequently, helmet laws were enacted, much to the displeasure of many motorcyclists, but to the great relief of many health-care practitioners. The ramifications of such irresponsible behavior [by those] motorcyclists extend far beyond the inconvenience suffered by people like me who had to take care of them. Sometimes the head injuries were very severe. Few people stop to philosophize about whether the victims have a right to consume enormous amounts of medical resources. We do not discuss the behavior that created the problem, and we generally do not discuss the price of treatment.

Source: America the Beautiful, by Ben Carson, p.141-142 , Jan 24, 2012

Excessive litigation would end with "loser pays" arrangement

We have an overabundance of lawyers and so we can expect to have excessive litigation. The English system does not have the same kind of problem with excessive litigation because they have a "loser pay" arrangement. In that system, if you bring a lawsuit against someone and you lose, you have to pay all court costs and fees associated with the lawsuit--on both sides. In our system, most medical malpractice lawsuits are engaged on a contingency basis, which means the plaintiff has no out-of-pocket expenses, even if the case is lost. It's basically like playing the lottery; you have very little to lose, and you might become a millionaire if you instigate a medical malpractice lawsuit. Whether we add a "loser pay" arrangement to our legal system or devise another solution, the plaintiffs should have some skin in the game. To be able to bring lawsuits against people with no risk to yourself is antithetical to a harmonious and fair society.
Source: America the Beautiful, by Ben Carson, p.171-172 , Jan 24, 2012

Stop politically-correct prejudice against blacks vs. whites

A myopic view by our Justice Department resulted in the dismissal of three of the defendants in a voter intimidation case against the new Black Panther party in Philadelphia. The case was widely publicized because the incident was captured on film and distributed on YouTube, showing them verbally abusing voters and brandishing weapons. Would the Justice Department recognize such activity as voter intimidation if the perpetrators wore white sheets and burned crosses?

I am not accusing anyone of anything other than failing to look at the big picture when dealing with important legal matters. Some will say that I am advocating a conservative approach to the case, but I would strongly disagree and would say that this is neither a conservative nor liberal view, but rather a practical and logical one. If we can just tone down the rhetoric and discuss things like rational human beings, applying justice equally and not based on some political philosophy.

Source: America the Beautiful, by Ben Carson, p.175 , Jan 24, 2012

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