Profile on John Buntin

 

John Buntin, a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University, is currently a writer for Governing Magazine, and covers various social issues including health care, public safety, urban affairs, and crime. He has been writing about these issues for around 15 years, has written articles for the New York Times, and has written two books, “Governing States and Localities” and recently, “L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City.” He currently lives in Washington DC with his family.

Buntin started writing about the world of policing in the late 1990’s as a case writer at the School of Government. “I started to write about issues like Boston’s successful efforts to reduce violence as well as New York City’s,” said Buntin. The 1980s and 90s were home to many debates regarding policing methods in the United States. When talking about his current efforts, Buntin expressed that, “it’s a really interesting time to be in the field.” Currently, there is also a lot of debate regarding policing, but also in sentencing strategies. This adds to Buntins widespread interest in mass incarceration and its consequences.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Buntin about his thoughts on mandatory minimums in the United States. He does not have much background on mandatory minimums and drug crimes specifically, because his work is more focussed on serious crimes like murders and violence. Because drugs and violence are treated similarly under the law, he did provide me with quality information about how drug sentencing works. Buntin agreed that people are being unfairly treated by the justice system in regard to drug sentencing. The “notable increase in prison population has been in Federal prisons,” he said; mainly driven by the mandatory minimums and drug laws. “The growth in the cost of federal prison has been so dramatic that it is a subject of concern,” said Buntin. His solution for drug sentencing is that there should be smaller punishments which would be more effective “than slow uncertain and strikingly severe punishments, an idea that has gotten by democrats and republicans alike,” and this is a rarity, as they are historically on opposite spectrums. Buntin agrees that the current criminal justice system is turning people who are not even criminals into fugitives and this just increases the widely shared mistrust of the government. “There is the bipartisan agreement that the current system does not work very well; it’s too expensive; it does too much damage to communities that the public criminal justice system is supposed to protect,” he said.

I came across Buntin when reading his New York Times article, “What Does it Take to Stop Bloods and Crips from Killing Each Other?” In this article he writes about the widespread mistrust of police, and alternatives that can prevent gang violence. “Victims and victimizers are often the same people, and neither side has any reason to talk to the police,” wrote Buntin. The key is for police to get  involved on a personal level with people and get in touch with the community instead of arresting, roughing up, and harassing gang members and petty drug dealers. By getting involved in the community, officers would have to join forces with gang intervention groups who work with gang members and young prospects to try and convince them not to live that life. The police has to be seen as an organization that is there to help and not to ruin families, lives, and communities.

“Five years ago I went to Los Angeles to report a story on LAPD Chief William Bratton for Governing Magazine. I had lived in Los Angeles Previously, loved the city, and was fascinated by its history. So I dived deeper into the department’s history than I might otherwise have,” wrote Buntin in his bio of his website Johnbuntin.com where he basically advertises his book. In this book he investigates a mystery he found puzzling: “how did the police department of Chief James ‘Two Gun’ Davis and ‘Bloody Christmas’… suddenly become the Dragnet LAPD? How did the department that had answered for decades to corrupt politicians come to answer to no one?” The answer, he says, “was bound up in the lives of Chief William H. Parker and the gangster Mickey Cohen.”

Buntin mostly sticks to his preferred topic of crime in inner cities and punishment. His opinions are very respectable as he has a good educational background, and does careful and extensive research before releasing anything.

People Affected by Mandatory Minimums

Stephanie George was charged with a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without parole for a drug conspiracy. She was “a girlfriend and bag holder and money holder” in a conspiracy. She had been caught with crack cocaine and was charged for housing her boyfriend who stored his crack and money in her house in exchange for money. The judge was hesitant to sentence her so harshly and he wouldnt have done so if he didnt have to but because of the mandatory minimum, he had to sentence her to life. She definitely deserved to be punished, but life in prison is a very very harsh sentence and should be reserved for serious felonies like murder. President Obama gave George clemency after serving 17 years behind bars. If she was not granted clemency, taxpayers would have spent roughly 1.4 million dollars for her jail time. Prisoners are overpopulating prisons, and are very expensive to keep, but prisons make profit while taxpayers pay them money to keep this “criminals” in prison.

“Weldon Angelos is serving a mandatory 55 years in prison for selling a few pounds of marijuana while possessing a firearm – a sentence so extreme that his judge, unable to go below the mandatory minimum, called on the president to commute Weldon’s sentence. Barring such a presidential commutation, taxpayers will spend over $1.5 million to keep Weldon behind bars until he’s 80 years old.” (FAMM).

Crack Cocaine

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed in 1986, because democrats were being accused for being soft on crime, and to prove the opposition wrong, this act was passed, calling for mandatory minimums for drug offenses. The punishment for the possession of crack was set to be 100:1 in relation to possession of powdered cocaine. Crack is essentially cocaine mixed with water and baking soda and boiled, making it into a solid, then it is chopped up into “rocks” or “crystals.” Crack was more prominent in African American communities while cocaine was seen more in the suburban white communities. So if a person is caught with possession of 5 grams of crack, they will face the same sentence as someone who is in possession of 500 grams of powdered cocaine. The reasoning for this is that there is more violence in communities which involve crack, and  violence is the main concern. This is racist and not fair, as people, mainly African Americans are being thrown in jail for crack possession. Crack is also a highly addictive drug, and people who are living in poor conditions may be introduced to it and then hooked. People are being thrown in jail for decades because they are addicted to a drug, and what is that accomplishing for the nation? nothing. Thankfully, more people are becoming aware of the atrocities of drug laws and changes are being made. Now thanks to FAMM, the ratio has been drastically lowered to 18:1, which is an improvement but still not exactly fair.

UMass Code of Student Conduct

http://dailycollegian.com/2014/04/03/code-of-student-conduct-under-reform-by-umass-students/

This is an article I wrote for the Daily Collegian earlier in the semester.

When I got written up a couple times and was disciplined by the school for very minor things, I knew something was not fair about the UMass judicial system and the Code of Student Conduct which determines sanctions for students.

The university makes students sign the Code of Student Conduct, when the majority of them just sign it because it is far to long and complicated. Students also do not feel the necessity to read it, because they trust that the university is not there to fuck them, and instead is there to help them graduate and be successful; at least thats how it should be because of all the money that students are paying to attend. The university has its own judicial system, where the Dean of Students is the judge and the jury is composed of faculty who are hand-picked and trained by the dean, instead of random students which would be more fair and make more sense. Students are allowed to bring an attorney to a hearing for an alcohol violation or whatever it may be, but that attorney is not allowed to give the student advice or speak at all for that matter during the meeting. If a student is arrested or receives a citation for alcohol or drugs over the summer or any time they are not in school, the school may discipline them as well under its own terms. There is a lot more at fault in the Code of Student Conduct that is being overlooked by students and faculty that needs to be changed. Thankfully, there is the Code of Student Conduct reform group who is working with an attorney to come up with solutions and revisions to these unfair rules, and although the university is trying its best to duck what the group has to say, I believe change for the better will come as more students begin to realize that their rights are being revoked.

UMass meal plan change

UMass Amherst has yet again come up with another scheme to make more money off the student body. The meal plans for students have changed, and what I got out of all of the options is basically that students on campus will not have any more YCMPs instead they will have something called dining dollars, and that overall the plans have all increased in price. “In terms of price increases, DiStefano said, ‘Every year, unfortunately, food prices go up.  We are faced with higher and high costs from suppliers, operations, etc. But we are not a for-profit organization. Our bottom line is student satisfaction.'” (Daily Collegian). DiStefano said that “we are not a for-profit organization,” but with the current meal plan, a meal is worth $9.50 and students are charged about a dollar more which the university makes profit off of. This means that the university will be making even more profit next year while trying to convince students that the meal plan gives them more freedom and options.

 

Native Americans as mascots

The Cleveland Indians, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, Florida State Seminoles, and many other sports teams use Native Americans as their mascots. There has been controversy over this for years, but most criticisms pass by unfazed team owners. There is a lot of talk about racism being over, but no one seems to point to Native Americans. Native Americans were on this land far before the United States became the United States. They were raped, killed, stripped of their land, and segregated all in the process of the foundation of this country, and it seems as though we still do not show them any respect or sympathy. It would be highly inappropriate to have a sports team called the Blackskins with a characterized African American as the mascot; a team called the Whites with a characterized white person wearing a tank top eating a hot dog as the mascot; a team called the Yellowskins with a stereotyped Asian as the mascot, or any other stereotyped race that one could imagine, so why are Native Americans an exception? Native Americans seem to be the only ones angered about these teams, but they should be the ones with the power to decide whether it is ok or not for these to exist, not the rich owners who are concerned about the teams history. Native Americans deserve everyones respect, but they seem to be pushed to the side simply because they make up only 2% of the US population.

Chiraq

As an avid fan of hip hop and rap since I first started voluntarily listening to music, I have come to the conclusion that yes, rap can have a powerful impact on peoples lives, as it has had an influenced me and I have seen it influence others. The majority of rap is highly explicit in language and can be very vulgar; insulting many but exciting others equally. 

The current state of rap I’d say is a good one, because it includes a diverse mix of gangster rap, spiritual rap, anarchist/anti-government rap, druggy rap, electronic rap, and many more sub categories. The world today needs some rap more than others. There is no question that rap is a trend setter whether good or bad. The good is the spiritual and anarchist rap but the very bad, what we do not need today is the new age gangster rap, specifically “drill” music.

“Drill” music originated in Chicago and has blown up in the past couple years with rappers like Chief Keef and Lil Reese. Chicago has taken on the new nickname Chiraq, resulting from the amount of homicides seen. People around my age who listen to this rap that glorifies gangs, guns, and killing others are influenced and sometimes buy guns of their own even though they have no purpose to it. I have even seen people I know on Facebook showing off guns and quoting rappers like Keef. These kids have no reason to have guns as far as I know, and just have them for the title. I live in Cambridge, where you can be standing in front of John Malkovich’s house, walk for 10 minutes and be in the middle of the projects. I personally do not see a reason to have a firearm, but I don’t live in a ghetto so I can only speak for myself. 

A very interesting Vice documentary called “Chiraq” documents the youth living in Chicago, and shows perfect examples of how these rappers are influencing the youth and even older adults. The violence in Chicago comes down to much more than music. Like Compton, there are different sections in neighborhoods and gangs are known to be involved. In the past couple decades, the city of Chicago tried to reduce gang violence by moving housing projects out to the suburbs, but this has really worsened things as residents are basically stuck out there and do not have many activities to participate in as they would have in the city to keep them from trouble. 

Music is not the only influence on this violent gun culture, but it definitely adds to it. In defense of rap, it does show people and represent what many are living like, but besides that it encourages them to keep living that way. Musicians should use their high status toward a greater good and try and influence people to break out of that culture and make it big.

Free Speech and Donald Sterling (Fox News Report)

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/05/01/race-and-freedom-cliven-bundy-donald-sterling-and-freedom-speech/

Debates on freedom of speech have ensued as a result of the phone conversation between the owner of the LA Clippers, Donald Sterling, and his girlfriend were leaked. This Fox News article is stating that although it is not moral, under the First Amendment, Sterling had the right to say what he said, and especially because it was in a private conversation. His girlfriend, who is biracial, revealed the conversation in which he expressed how he did not want her bringing African Americans to his basketball games.

What Sterling said was not slanderous, or directly inciting so it is not illegal and he cannot be convicted of anything under the law. According to Napolitano, “The most effective equalizer for hatred is the free market. It will remedy Sterling’s hatred far more effectively than the NBA can.” It is true, that Sterling would receive a great amount of repercussion alone without the NBA’s help, but it is the NBA’s duty to punish Sterling as it finds necessary. An owner of a basketball team in the NBA which is composed of almost 80% African American players, and with a still growing fan base, cannot make highly racist claims unscathed. The First Amendment does not protect free speech in private institutions such as the NBA, so it has the freedom to do as it pleases with Sterling. There is no way that Sterling could make such allegations and still sit court-side freely. 

Sterling has done more than just make racist comments over the phone, only that he has not been caught or convicted about anything else. Many former players and coaches have reported racist and strange comments Sterling has said. He has also been sued for sexual harassment, and was caught refusing to rent apartments to African Americans and families with children.

The NBA did right and had the constitutional right to ban Sterling and having him sell all of his NBA property.

What Does It Take to Stop Crips and Bloods From Killing Each Other?

This New York Times article written by John Buntin, explains in detail the problems between gangs, the harm to the community, problems with police, and the solutions to this. Crime has gone down significantly since the nineties, but prisoner numbers have gone significantly up, making the United States the country with most prisoners in the world. How does one stop gang violence without more violence and unnecessary incarcerations. An easy and first assumption that many communities have tried is to increase the power and number of officers in a crime ridden area. New York City has had Stop and Frisk in action for several years. Crime has gone down, but more people are in prison and mainly African Americans are targeted, making this an unfair strategy. Unfairness when it comes to law enforcement leads to distrust of the law enforcement, and the loss of its legitimacy. This is why so many people refuse to give information to police officers, because they are seen as the greater enemy, and cannot be trusted. “Victims and victimizers are often the same people, and neither side has any reason to talk to the police.” Everyone knows that there are people within the community that join to work against gangs without law enforcement. These are gang intervention groups which use different methods to prevent gang violence. What the LAPD has been realizing is that they are actually very useful and with a combined effort, future gang violence can be prevented, solely through reason and convincing. This is good for the police department, because they can regain their legitimacy  by working with the community and not being seen as the enemy for gangs, but as someone there to help.

 

 

Confessions of a Black Mr Mom

This is a very interesting article about a topic that most of us in society just brush off as one of those things that shouldnt happen, but happen anyways and is normal. Over 50% of African American families are without a father. These fathers who do not raise their children, and leave the mother to do it alone are known as deadbeat dads. Ta-Nehisi Coates, starts this article by narrating his day, and explaining the daily events that black males go through and witness. He and his friend, while pushing a baby stroller, notice a woman walk towards them, then turn around to avoid them, people are always giving him advice on how to care for his baby, and hardest of all, it is nearly impossible for him to get a taxi. More importantly, Coates speaks on the importance of a black man to be a father. This benefits himself, the black community as a whole, and his  son or daughter. This also is very important to the mother of his baby, by making life easier on her, and not having to balance a job and taking care of the baby all of the time. He describes black fathers as heroes, and urges all who have kids to be good fathers.