Jennifer Porter and Race: Can Media Make a Difference Now?

It was a scene that seemed depressingly familiar.

Packed into the Hillsborough NAACP's small headquarters in Tampa Monday night, a crowd of 50 or so people watched officials from local and regional arms of the civil rights group denounce seeming disparities in justice meted out to black and non-black people who have committed the same crime.

Seven cameras from an array of local TV news outlets watched as NAACP officials ticked off the crimes and punishments:

William Thornton IV, a first-time offender, was told by a public defender to plead no contest to vehicular homicide charges in a crash that killed two people. In September, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

(Meus in report on WTVT-Ch. 13)

Jean Claude Meus, an immigrant from Haiti, was driving a truck which crashed near Wauchula, killing a mother and her 8-year-old child. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, despite the fact that he didn't leave the scene, called police and two sisters of the woman killed believe Meus' claim that he was not impaired or asleep during the accident.

And, of course, Tampa dance teacher Jennifer Porter was recently sentenced to house arrest and probation after fleeing the scene of an accident in which she killed two children. Despite the fact that her car was cleaned of evidence and she waited days to come forward, she received less than the three years maximum prison sentence made possible by a plea deal drafted by her attorney -- one of Tampa's best criminal attorneys, Barry Cohen.

Meus and Thorton are black. Porter, who is part Cuban, is widely perceived to be white.

"The initial response is outrage, naturally," said NAACP vice president Curtis Stokes, a fomer probation officer who now works as a bank executive. "Race does matter - I think."

But while local media reports emphasized their complaints about the Porter case, several local NAACP officials expressed resignation about her sentence, given that the killed children's mother signed off on Porter's plea deal and did not respond to their early efforts to contact her.

Instead, the group hopes to enlist the national NAACP to help Thornton and Meus -- publicity savvy attorney John Trevena, now handling Meus' case, was front and center with the trucker's fiancee and the victim's sister Monday. They've also scheduled a town hall meeting for Dec. 1 at Beulah Baptist Church, 1006 W Cypress St., Tampa, FL .

Sensitive to the anguish on all sides and wary of sparking a seismic wave of comunity outrage, I think local outlets have held back a bit in commenting on the Porter case' implications (indeed, it took us a week to write an editorial condemning the light sentence, and North Suncoast columnist Andrew Skerritt has offered our most pointed commentary so far).

Contrast this to the furor that erupted following the handcuffing of a black elementary school student in St. Petersburg, and the ironies of media coverage emerge once again. While that media madness sparked worldwide headlines which obscured and obliterated the real issues, these cases -- which could have benefitted from a little national attention -- have received little notice outside the Tampa Bay area.

As rumors swirl that Geraldo Rivera and Al Sharpton may get more involved, I couldn't help wondering whether much of this was too little, too late. Meus has already lost an appeal -- a petiton to the governor seems his last resort -- and Porter's slap on the wrist was written when her plea deal was approved.

Unfortunately, without the kind of galvanizing footage which placed a 5-year-old on TV screens across the country, these issues probably won't get the kind of widespread examination they deserve.

Comments

[Peter Schorsch]

Eric -- separate of what happened to other examples you list, do you think Jennifer Porter deserved to go to jail?

[Eric Deggans]

I do. If she would have stopped her car and admitted the crime to police, I might feel differently. But heading home and letting her parents take the rap for her efforts to destroy evidence get no sympathy from me. Unfortunately the lesson for others now seems the opposite -- drive away from any fatal accident and get youself a lawyer. Otherwise, you might wind up like Thornton and Meus.

[Anonymous]

I really don’t know enough of the facts to comment on the homes cases, but I really don’t think Jennifer Porter deserves jail time. And believe me I feel the same way as you about Cuban drivers.I drive home every night through the hood. Every night the drug dealers are standing on the curb. I drive through this area as fast as I can and pray that my car doesn’t fail me. What if my car failed me? I would be robbed and if I was lucky only beat up. I can’t help but wonder what would go through the mind of a young white woman having to drive through such an area.Also it is hard to see a black person crossing the road at night. If it had been in the day, I would agree that she was reckless and deserved jail time. Had she not left the scene she wouldn’t have been guilty of anything, but had she stayed she might have been beaten to a pulp. I remember reading Bill Maxwell’s column where he questioned the reasoning behind gangs of blacks pulling whites out of their cars and beating them after Devil Ray games.I can’t think of anything more painful than losing a child. It’s a tragedy.

[Eric Deggans]

Funny how people who write such things never have the guts to put their real names to their words.

[Eric Deggans]

I've been informed by a fiend who knows the blogosphere much better than me, that anonymity in blog comments doesn't necessarily indicate an unwilliness to be identified. So let me present this follow-up message to epxlain my earlier reaction.Often, when i write columns on race topics, the most vitriolic responses come from people who refuse to identify themselves -- either through anonymous mail, email with no proper name attached or postings crafted to hide the identity of the poster.I guess, after 10 years exploring such issues in the newspaper and wading through the reactions, I've grown tired of people who lack the grace to make their arguments respectfully and lack the courage to attach their name to them.So I apologize if I've made an untoward assumption about the motives behind the insulting, anonymous posting above. But I would hope that, if you want your comments respected in the future, you would put your name to them.

[erin]

Eric,I agree with you that all three of the traffic cases received unfair sentencing. I do believe that Jennifer Porter should spend some time in jail. I am sure she will be haunted for the rest of her life by what happened, but I feel that Lisa Wilkins and her children did not receive justice with the outcome. I know if it was my son who had been killed I would be after the responsible party's head. On the other hand, I also feel that if my son had CAUSED the accident, I would encourage him to turn himself in right away. Too often today it seems people are ducking responsibility for their actions, either by parents covering for them or other means.By the way, I have been reading The Hard Road series and I think it is a fantastic piece and provides great details into the case. As for bringing in the case of the 5-year-old girl, to me that is something completely different. I saw the entire video when it was posed on the Times' website, and I honestly think the police officers had no other choice. That child was repeatedly striking her teacher, screaming, throwing papers and objects around the room and being completely uncontrollable. Black or white, they needed to do something to keep her from harming herself or someone else. I really think that none of them enjoyed what they had to do. It wasn't the best decision, but I don't hold the police officers at fault. They are not trained to deal with out-of-control 5-year-olds. The school district should have dealt with her internally and shouldn't have involved the police.

[La Habana]

Jennifer Porter's indescribably good fortune: it’s not a black/white thing. And making enemies in Tampa by pitching indelicate fits about alleged racism is not a good thing.For many decades the cognoscenti have known this: “Tampa has crime, but at least it’s organized.” Tampa also has a mighty Cuban presence which has survived by learning to live within the framework. If you don’t get the nuances that make Tampa tick, you might want to avoid stepping in this land mine.Sincere condolences to the children's family.

[Eric Deggans]

Such cryptic references. Why don't you just come out and say what you mean, la habana?

[babecca]

Eric,I know people are tired of hearing about race issues, but unless the issues are put in the media no one seems to care. For those who think they are just unfounded claims, they are not. Racism is still alive and thriving unfortunately. Although it may not appear to be present to some, it is, and is played out in our courtrooms everyday. The NAACP has a very good plan of action with educating and having courtroom watchdogs. If you do not know how the judicial system works your lack of knowledge can literally put you in prison for a very long time, (Meus and Thornton), seems like being innocent is not good enough anymore, and if you try and stand up for your innocence and not take a plea ( admitting guilt) you are penalized even more . The judicial system is a tangled web and the assumption that if you have not done anything wrong then you can not be charged, or worse you can not be found guilty if you are innocent, is just that, an assumption, when you see someone who has done something wrong (leaving the scene of an accident) (Jennifer Porter) and you see the outcome it sends mixed messages to people that leaving the scene is excusable. I don’t believe she had intent, but intent is not an element in a charge of leaving the scene, leaving the scene knowing there was an accident that you were involved in is inexcusable. I was watching the video of her sentencing hearing and the one thing that struck me the most was the Judges reference to her having no priors, neither did Meus or Thornton. Andrew Skerritt’s points in his commentary are right on target .Standing up against injustice is the right thing to do no matter what race or color.

[Anonymous]

Eric,It's M-O-N-E-Y (influence) that makes a the difference...in these cases,...in our legal system...a teacher runs down someone children and keeps going (gets house arrest)...a Nobel Laureate & chief scientist of the (TLH) National High Magnetic Field Laboratory...who has a long record of traffic offenses...kills one man and injured seven others (7 months)...a Polk County State Representatives' son (drunk and underage)kills his best friend…(probation/house arrest, too)...shows you need money/influence to avoid jail...may God have mercy on their souls...but don't expect me to...we as a society...are the recipients of this justice (?)...are always included in my prayers...God save us from ourselves!