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"Because we're talking about relatively small numbers of people here. The people who are engaging in these violent criminal activities are a minority of the population. They're outliers."

Respectfully Glenn, that isn't true. One in three black men in America has a felony conviction to his name. Unfortunately criminality is a core explanation of racial disparities.

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Unless the BJS has updated their statistics, that stat could probably be bullshit. The stat was originally based on this from back in 2001 (https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p01.pdf). The 2013 report (https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf) shows a 20% decrease and unless it’s gone back up in the recent years, the downward trend may have continued. If you have the more recent report post it in a reply and I’ll give it a check.

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A Pew study from January 2018 found it's 33%: "In 2010, the percentage of all Americans with a felony record was 8.11 percent (including three percent who have served time in prison), but for black males the rate was 33 percent". I couldn't find a firm number in those BJS documents.

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/jun/8/percentage-americans-felony-convictions-increases-especially-blacks/

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Here’s the BJS for 2018, days something like 1.05k per 100k. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/p18.pdf

So yeah definitely higher than every other group, but in at least pre pandemic there was something like a 28% decrease over thirty years.

I wonder if it went back up during the pandemic.

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How many of those felonies are related to the failed war on drugs?

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Ooops. ALWAYS mistakes:

I use “M.” like the French do, for Monsieur but ALSO for Mesdames and Mademoiselle EQUALLY. ALL CAPS are ITALICS. I don’t read what I type before I post, so errors are expected.

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Here's the thing: Percentage a distraction. It's just a FACT that gangs of sufficient size, which ARE found in the urban areas, who have easy access to GUNS will necessarily wield such an OUTSIZED proportion of POWER in a community that the EXACT numbers don't signify, right?

Me? Dunno if very small minority or not. I just move on.

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