Black judge rejects plea deal for 'white boy'

Subject: Black judge rejects plea deal for 'white boy'

Black judge rejects plea deal for 'white boy'
Says three months of probation for fighting with a cop is 'ridiculous'


PITTSBURGH — A black judge from western Pennsylvania rejected a plea agreement for a man accused of fighting with police during a traffic stop, saying it was "a ridiculous plea that only goes to white boys."

The plea agreement was for a sentence of three months probation. Allegheny County Judge Joseph Williams said on Tuesday that a black defendant in that situation would not have been treated as leniently.

In court, Williams told Assistant District Attorney Brian Catanzarite that he "for some reason comes up with I think ridiculous pleas whenever it's a young white guy," according to The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I'm just telling you what my observation is. If this had been a black kid who did the same thing, we wouldn't be talking about three months' probation."

Catanzarite responded that he was standing in for another prosecutor and didn't broker the plea deal.

"Now that the court has essentially called me a racist, I think that's unfair. I don't make offers based on race. I make offers based on facts," Catanzarite said, according to the Tribune-Review.

Williams later recused himself from the case, and a white judge accepted the plea agreement for 24-year-old Jeffery McGowan.

The defendant, who had no criminal record, agreed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct. He had faced charges including aggravated assault.

Williams' secretary on Wednesday told The Associated Press the judge does not give interviews.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39536917/ns/us_news/

whites all be raciss and shit...

http://martynemko.blogspot.com/2009/06/white-teacher-speaks-out-what-is-it.html

bad reply, because in this case, yeah i agree with that judge. if you assault a cop, you should be IN JAIL for A YEAR minimum.

i just couldn't resist sharing that link though. i'm tired of bullshit excuses.

If a brother touches a cop he is more inclined to be shot before he is arrested.

Glad that someone in a reasonable position of power is talking about racial inequality in the justice system.

And no, Glenn Beck, I'm not talking about how the most persecuted group of people in this country is white Christians.

I wonder what really went down? Did that white kid actually make attempt to fight with the police officer, or maybe he jostled him accidentally? Regardless of what wrongdoing a cop is guilty of, unless one's life is threatened, it seems a poor choice to actually get into a tussle with one. After all, cops have guns. I would not in my right mind ever consider going toe to toe with Po-Po. I mean, to consider doing that is to either have a heightened sense of privilege, or be completely deranged.