Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday, February 25th, 2013, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a strong statement condemning a Texas federal prosecutor's "racially charged remark" about money, minorities and drug deals.
Justice Sotomayor's statement that "[t]he prosecutor here tapped a deep and sorry vein of racial prejudice that has run through the history of criminal justice in our nation" was supported and joined by fellow Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
The case in question, in which the Supreme Court denied appeal (petition for writ of certiorari), is:
BONGANI CHARLES CALMOUN v. UNITED STATES, No. 12-6142 (Decided February 25, 2013); On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [Cite as: 568 U.S. _____ (2013)].
The racist statement made on cross-examination by the white male prosecutor to the male African-American defendant was, inter alia:
You’ve got African-Americans, you’ve got Hispanics, you’ve got a bag full of money. Does that tell you—a light bulb doesn’t go off in your head and say, This is a drug deal?”
The question should never have been posed, Sotomayor wrote. “It is deeply disappointing to see a representative of the United States resort to this base tactic more than a decade into the 21st century,” she wrote. “Such conduct diminishes the dignity of our criminal justice system and undermines respect for the rule of law. We expect the government to seek justice, not to fan the flames of fear and prejudice.”
The African-American defendant, Bongani Charles Calhoun, had claimed in his trial for drug conspiracy that he was on a road trip with friends and didn’t realize they were about to engage in a drug transaction. Calhoun testified he left the group when a friend arrived in a hotel room with money. Calhoun said he didn’t know what was happening, but he decided he didn’t want to be there.
Sotomayor also criticized the federal government’s arguments when the case was argued in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The government had called the prosecutor’s question “impolitic” and said it did not prejudice the outcome “even assuming he question crossed the line.” The Solicitor General later acknowledged the question “was unquestionably improper."
“I hope never to see a case like this again,” Sotomayor wrote.
[also see, www.abajournal.com/news/article/ "Sotomayor: Prosecutor Remark Tapped 'Deep And Sorry' Vein of Racial Prejudice"]
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