The RSS feed for Radley Balko's blog The Agitator is receiving the coveted 1st_priority tag in my Feedlounge. He consistently cranks out some thoughtful writing - most often about vice crimes and paramilitary police activities, but he does venture into some other interesting areas. For instance, he has been covering the sad and disturbing case of Cory Maye, and he reflects on why the mainstream media never got it:
The Associated Press wrote the story up the day happened, and again on the day of Maye's conviction. Nobody thought to follow-up. And Prentiss, Mississippi actually made the front page of the New York Times in 2004. Part of that article touched on the Maye case, too. But the reporter who wrote it had come to the story from a decidedly different angle than I had, and I'd argue consequently missed the story because of it. That's because the reporter, Fox Butterfield, found the Maye case while writing a larger story on how the drug trade was ravaging America's rural communities. When that's your angle, it isn't suprising to see how you might fail to look skeptically at a story about a poor black kid on Death Row for shooting a white cop during a drug raid.I, on the other hand, came to the Maye case from a completely different perspective. I'm far more advocate than journalist. I was researching a paper critical of drug policing. I'm naturally skeptical of the drug war, and of drug policing in general. I'm less likely to take what cops and prosecutors say at face value. From that perspective, the case lept off the page at me, and practically begged me to do a bit more digging. My point is that there's nothing inherently wrong with coming at the news with a different perspective, or even with an agenda. In many cases, it can help get stories and trends that would otherwise be neglected some needed exposure. Blogs left and right -- and soon, hopefully, the mainstream media -- picked up the Maye case because it's a great story, and it's a horrible injustice. It doesn't -- and shouldn't -- matter that it first took a crazy-ass libertarian to recognize it as such.
I'm also excited about his new white paper on paramilitary police raids, which I've eagerly anticipated. In his concurring opinion on Hudson v. Michigan, Justice Kennedy writes:
Today's decision does not address any demonstrated pattern of knock-and-announce violations. If a widespread pattern of violations were shown, and particularly if those violations were committed against persons who lacked the means or voice to mount an effective protest, there would be reason for grave concern.
I believe Balko's study will provide this evidence, but I also agree with him that the issue of knocking is only the tip of the iceberg. The problem is the militarization of police in general, spurred on by the drug war.
If you don't have time to read the paper (and if your name is Gon F.) then at least take a look at the map Balko has compiled, plotting incidents of botched police raids nationwide. He includes details and groups by deaths, non-violent crimes, and more. My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Balko for making this important issue a priority! His work certainly boosts my opinion of Cato overall.
Read this article
