The Color of Justice

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In the Sunday edition(June 6, 2010) of the Hattiesburg American the front page story was about "Protecting the Public." I read the article, and I thought about the information that was not discussed in the article. We know that there is a racial disparity in sentencing, and this disparity is quite evident in the cases against Lumberton's former Chief of Police, Maurice Hammond, and Gulfport's former Mayor Brett Warr. Hammon and Warr were convicted of Katrina fraud, but did the punishment fit the crime?
Hammond was charged with 8 counts of Katrina fraud. He received $19,514 in Katria funds. As a result of his conviction, he was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, and was ordered to pay $29,438 in restitution.
Warr was charged with 18 counts of Katrina fraud. He received $222,798 in Katrina funds. As as result of his conviction he was sentenced to 3 years probation, and was ordered to pay $9,558 in restitution.
Now, both of these men were public servants, one was a Mayor and the other a Chief of Police. They both appeared before the same judge in the same court, but the sentences that were handed down were quite different. We are often accused of crying wolf and playing the race card when dealing with the justice system. But this case shows that it pays to have the complexion for the connection.

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