Johannes Mehserle Sentencing, Oakland's Reaction, Liveblogged

2 years is an insult to humanity. What will it take for society to stop allowing police officers to literally get away with murder? The only reason these people go into law enforcement is so that the law may never be enforced upon them.

When will people realize that POLICE ARE the WORST CRIMINALS in our society and walk the streets without fear of retribution or respect for the citizens who pay their very salaries?

The Mesherle had one intention; to kill the shackled man in front of him, and he succeeded. He didn't even have the guts to look him in the eyes and shoot him. What a coward! Most cops just beat you after they put you in shackles and gather about five buddies to join in on the beating. This guy is the lowest of the low! I've never met an ethical cop but this man and his co-workers are are truly despicable!

How can this judge sleep at night? Oh yea, He's white, not too bright, and has less respect for human life than Mesherle. What a sad state we live in.

My uncle had a gun in his car. He never fired it, much less killed anyone with it, yet he's serving the full 10 years in prison for the "gun enhancement" part of his crime (selling drugs). The drug sales charges were all thrown out.

The Mesherle judge threw out the "gun enhancement" charge even though he killed someone. That's not right. The double standard is inexcusable, but not unexpected. Mesherle shouldn't have gotten a slap on the wrist because he was a cop, but something tells me he'll be paying for his crime in prison.

The travesty is not as much that Mehserle's sentence was so light, but that the majority of sentences given to black men for similar or lesser crimes are significantly greater. I think the evidence in this case showed that the shooting was an accident, however terrible and negligent. If Mehserle had been black and the victim white, he probably would have gotten a much higher sentence. Black men all over this country are constantly being victimized by the justice system in more ways than one. One example - the federal punishment for possession of cocaine and crack. Basically the same drug in different forms. The difference being that one is used by a mostly white population and one is used by mostly a minority population (or the rich and the poor, which often means the same thing). Until recently, the law stated a person who possessed 5g of crack cocaine was subject to the same mandatory sentence as a person selling 500g of powder cocaine a (100:1 ratio). It wasn't until this year that President Obama helped change those laws, taking the discrepancy down to a 18:1 ratio. This is just one example of how minorities are treated unfairly.
There is tons of research out there that shows black men are also much more likely to be sentenced to the death penalty than white men for the same or similar crimes. The "hidden" and often blatant racism against blacks has not left this country, and will be here for years to come.