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A judge recently reduced Taylor's sentence to eight years, giving him credit for time served. He is now a free man, at the age of 47. He cried when the judge announced the verdict.
"I thought I was going to cry too," said law student Reiko Rogozen, who helped to work on the case. "He was scared up until the last minute that it wasn't actually going to happen."
The church that Taylor broke into, St. Joseph's Kitchen, is located in Los Angeles. When Taylor was arrested, he told the officers that he was hungry and looking for food. The church's pastor, Rev. Allan McCoy, testified that Taylor would often eat at the church and sleep there. McCoy said that Taylor was a "peaceful man" who struggled with a crack addiction.
Taylor's other two strikes came from minor robberies in which he didn't use any weapons and no one was injured.
The Three Strikes Law in California is a very peculiar example of how our prison system has become tantamount to modern day slavery. Most interesting about the law is that one of it's greatest supporters is the California Prison Guards Union, who seems to find that mass incarceration is a great way to keep their job security. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy made it clear that he felt it is "sick" that the Prison Guards Union has supported legislation that has led to the overcrowding of America's prisons.
Mass incarceration is one of the most devastating things to happen to the black family in our nation's history. When our men and women are being imprisoned at such astronomical rates, black babies are being raised without their parents, and black women are not able to find suitable husbands. The California Prison Guards Union and others who support the Three Strikes Laws have supported a holocaust in the black community. While laws supporting mass incarceration are not responsible for directly killing people, they are certainly responsible for slaughtering an entire community. They should be ashamed.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (11)
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By: tlcanimal on 8/17/2010 10:45AM
I agree that the sentence for this man was unjustified but California made 3 strikes the law and if you break it, you pay the consequences. Just like everyone else who lives in California. Blame everyone except the criminals. And do you
think the criminals are really who black women want to be their husbands and children's baby daddies?
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By: Heath Roe on 8/17/2010 11:37AM
I completely understand where your coming from, but i have to ask do you not see how ordinary people can get sucked in this worm-hole? The number of black men incarcerated over petty crimes is exasperatingly larger then any other race even then latinos. With the majority of men off the streets this only leaves a handfull of options for women to mate with. And Yes black women are mating with criminals these days as a gesture to maybe THUG LOVE or whatever the issue. The stereotypical black THUG is often considered attractive to the black women, due to the polluted music videos and entertainment industry. Without proper education and guidance the black women is left to fend for herself in deciding who's MR WRIGHT! The education issue is a WHOLE different TOPIC that i wont even touch on but also take into consideration that most of these women have no positive rolemodels so they tend to follow the status quo. BLACK THUG equals STATUS QUO.
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By: rik on 8/17/2010 11:51AM
I agree 100%
Now what happened to Mr Taylor is unfortunate, and sad, but lets not forget the other two CONVICTIONS, or the victims of those other two crimes.
1. "The Three Strikes Law in California is a very peculiar example of how our prison system has become tantamount to modern day slavery"
Where did u get ur degree from "Homer Simpson University" Slaves didnt pull a gun, slaves didnt get 3 chances, slaves didnt terrorize the population. Slaves were incarcerated on the plantantion through no fault of their own.
2. Most interesting about the law is that one of it's greatest supporters is the California Prison Guards Union.
This maybe so, but what is also intresting is 73%Californians voted for this law to include A/Americans. Another fact, crime went down signficantly http://www.threestrikes.org/pdf/15YearReport09.pdf
3. Mass incarceration is one of the most devastating things to happen to the black family in our nation's history.
No the most devastating things to happen to the black family is the appalling lack of self respect, character and morality in "SOME" black familys.
4.they are certainly responsible for slaughtering an entire community. They should be ashamed.
Tell it to the victims of these indviduals. Id say ur just as guilty becuase of ur stead refusal to hold the individual accountable, you and the rest of ur liberal buddies so quick to to excuse "UNPRODUCTIVE AND UNCIVILIZED BEHAVIOR"
Further id say, A/American males are just as quilty as you are, after all it is fact, the most Black criminals rarely victimize anyone other than other blacks. In other words "slaughtering community"
But hey, let blame the system, for protecting us, not the individual who gets 3 chances
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By: Heath Roe on 8/17/2010 11:33AM
I completely understand where your coming from, but i have to ask do you not see how ordinary people can get sucked in this worm-hole? The number of black men incarcerated over petty crimes is exasperatingly larger then any other race even then latinos. With the majority of men off the streets this only leaves a handfull of options for women to mate with. And Yes black women are mating with criminals these days as a gesture to maybe THUG LOVE or whatever the issue. The stereotypical black THUG is often considered attractive to the black women, due to the polluted music videos and entertainment industry. Without proper education and guidance the black women is left to fend for herself in deciding who's MR WRIGHT! The education issue is a WHOLE different TOPIC that i wont even touch on but also take into consideration that most of these women have no positive rolemodels so they tend to follow the status quo. BLACK THUG equals STATUS QUO.
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By: wayne on 8/17/2010 11:15PM
heath roe
How do you know the first two crimes were petty ? How did they affect the victims ? It said he was a drug addict. This was a choice he made in his life as well as the choice to commit the crimes. No one forced him to become an addict. The good thing is now he has served times he shouldn't still be an addict and perhaps he can be productive enough in society to support himself, rather than having society support him Now maybe he can live by abiding by the laws of society.
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By: Heath Roe on 8/18/2010 1:05AM
By: wayne ("How do you know the first two crimes were petty ?")....well it actually says it about 5 paragraphs into the story. Here it is.........{Taylor's other two strikes came from MINOR robberies in which he didn't use any weapons and no one was injured.}
Definition of petty-
Merriam Webster
Main Entry: pet·ty
Pronunciation: \ˈpe-tē\
Function: adjective
Inflected Form(s): pet·ti·er; pet·ti·est
Etymology: Middle English pety small, MINOR, alteration of petit
Date: 14th century
1 : having secondary rank or importance : MINOR, subordinate
2 : having little or no importance or significance
3 : marked by or reflective of narrow interests and sympathies : small-minded
Please take note of the word MINOR. Thanks
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By: wayne on 8/18/2010 2:36AM
Heath Roe
Again i ask you, did anyone ask the victims if they felt the robberies were minor ? I do agree a life sentence for stealing food is way out of line. If someone is hungry and needs food that badly i would think compassion would dictate not prosecuting for such a crime.
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By: Heath Roe on 8/18/2010 11:43AM
Oh trust I do understand exactly where your coming from. There could be a vast difference of opinion depending on the victim. But I deal with fairness and Logic, at least I would like to think I do. If any thing the average citizen does not, especially not the average police officer thats willing to shoot first and ask questions later. Or take this story into consideration, a guy steals a couple tubes of toothpaste and the store employee is irate, and ends up murdering the victim in a choke hold. Is that Justice? In muslim countries at worst they chop your hand off, but murder? Heres the link for that.....http://cbs2chicago.com/local/CVS.homicide.2.1693571.html
Judging off this story alone I would not trust the average persons judgement on whats considered minor or petty. They have judges for that, lawyers and people that get payed to do such. I believe its called due process if Im not mistaken, and I stand to be corrected, but stories like this happen too often in the black community. And oh yeah they got that got chocked out was a black guy.
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By: JOba on 8/21/2010 4:42AM
what we as Black Men already know, that is most of us over 45 years of age, that the unjustic system of white supremists are never ashamed of locking us away, which in many cases lead to the destruction of many black families. How can people with the mindset that the system has toward Black Men care or be concerned about what impact locking them away has on their community. After all we have been less than an animal to the system for over 500 years. They treat their pets better than they ever will treat one of us! \My question is why do we as Black Men not understand that concept and stop doing those things within our control that brings about that unjust treatment.We will recieve enought of that kind of treatment in general!Please understand that i'm not saying you have to commit a crime to be treated in such manner, just be black! That being said, let's stop carring about what others think of us and start carring about what we think of ourselves.Then and only then will we stop commiting shame to ourselves. The system presents many negative to and about me(The Black Man)but i have never bought into that.I stand as a man created in the image of God and not defined by other men of dark hearts.I'm not going to feed the lions mouth!They say we have no power, that we are prisoners of war (victims)and that for the most part is true. But i'm not giving up anything but name,rank and serial number. Standing true and accountabley responsible to and for my family direct and indirectly.That is the way i have always rolled, prison,gangbanging,drugs,shooting other black men and women have no place in this roll.
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By: Christy on 8/22/2010 12:13AM
Speaking on behalf of some of my sisters, I don't presume to speak for all, I think it's important to note that the incarceration of the black male has not made it difficult for the enlightened female who realizes that the world is not just one color to find a suitable spouse. Options abound if people are willing to move beyond stereotypes and judge and individual by their character. That being said, there are MANY eligible black males who don't have rap sheets and lockers full of baggage. They come in white, blue, and no collars maybe you have to look a little while to find them but nothing worth having happens overnight. Just like you don't find $100 bills floating around in the street you're generally not going to find a good man just standing at the corner waiting for his princess to show up. He's out handling his business and when sisters do the same the odds of love finding them go WAY up!
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