The Darden Dilemma: 12 Black Writers on Justice and Race

Christopher Darden, the only black on the team prosecuting O.J. Simpson, was seen as supporting a justice system that many blacks view as unfair. In this often thought-provoking collection, the best essays stay close to that justice system. Law professor and former prosecutor Paul Butler writes powerfully in favor of jury nullification of drug offenses and victimless crimes: any system that prosecutes ""one-third of my sisters and brothers... is morally bankrupt."" New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch scores Darden for criticizing the mostly black jury but downplaying the substantial errors made by the prosecution. Los Angeles Times reporter Andrea Ford talks to other black prosecutors, who discuss their efforts to ""tilt the system toward justice."" Although no contributor addresses reports that the black women on the jury reacted with hostility to prosecutor Marcia Clark, Univ. of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill offers an intriguing commentary on the case of football player Warren Moon and Moon's wife, who refused to offer damaging testimony after her husband was arrested for spousal abuse. Hill suggests that Felicia Moon wanted to save the reputation of a ""well-known Black man"" not only for himself but for the whole community. Some essays veer off into more general racial politics, but there's enough here to spark much discussion. Cose is a contributing editor at Newsweek. (Mar.)