Page 350 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

Round 3: Connected Dialogue

America wants to be a melting pot but we cannot with racial bias. Implicit bias has been

shown in emergency room care for POC as opposed to POW. POC are given less pain medication

that POW. Cultural differences have to recognized and recognized as neither good nor bad.

We need to have a broader picture. The law seems unjust. How can a judge be just!

For the four or five years the court system has been examining implicit bias. Each fall we

shut down the courts for a day for a day of speakers and dialogue on racial and ethnic issues.

Participants are judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court workers, jail personnel. We work to

ferret out bias.

Another effort is trauma support for veterans. There is a Veteran’s Treatment Council (?).

This is a statewide effort.

The law is the law. Judges cannot be advocates. Each piece of the criminal justice system

does what it is asked to do by the legislature. They apply the law. They try to do the right thing.

Then why is 53206 so infamous for so many years?

The history of the 80’s and 90’s is catching up to us. Housing is a crucial issue. If you

read Evicted , that tells the story of how unstable housing effects a broad range of problems.

Housing needs to be affordable.

We need to raise the minimum wage.

CEOs need to cut their $.

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