Judge has Pity on Black Thieves but None for 3 Year Old White Victim

I present this story from Right Wing News even though their conclusions are off the mark. I'll discuss it below.

Right Wing News
A black judge in Kentucky has given two home invaders and armed robbers a light sentence because he feels that their three-year-old white victim was a “racist” because in her victim statement the little girl said she is now afraid of black people after they broke into her home and threatened her with a gun.

Judge Olu Stevens

In an outrageous statement from the bench, Louisville Judge Olu Stevens attacked the tiny white toddler and her parents for their “racism” calling the little girl’s statement “disturbing” while at the same time excusing the actions of the criminals who traumatized her. That’s right, this judge was more upset at a little girl for being scared by armed robbers than he was at the armed robbers.

At the sentencing trial of one of the robbers, a victim’s impact statement written by the little girl’s mother was entered into evidence. The statement read in part, “Whenever we are running errands, if we come across a black male, she holds me tight and begs me to leave. It has affected her friendships at school and our relationships with African-American friends.”

Then the judge outrageously attacked the little girl saying her statement disgusted him…

Watch Judge Stevens comments

But when Wallace (the robber) was brought up for sentencing Feb. 4 in Jefferson Circuit Court, it was the parents, not Wallace, who suffered Judge Olu Stevens’ wrath.

“I am offended. … I am deeply offended that they would be victimized by an individual and express some kind of fear of all black men,” he said.

“This little girl certainly has been victimized, and she can’t help the way she feels,” he said. “My exception is more with her parents and their accepting that kind of mentality and fostering those type of stereotypes.”

The Grays were not in court as Stevens denounced their statements and granted probation to Wallace, whom he said deserved the opportunity to redeem himself.

So, the armed robber who traumatized a tiny girl gets probation because this judge claimed that the little girl was a racist…. and he assumes, I am sure, that the little girl deserved to be robbed at gun point because she is white.

This case is bad enough on its own merits, it doesn't need the hyperbole added by the web site. Their conclusions were completely wrong and it is so obvious I have to wonder whether it was deliberate or if they are really that dumb at Right Wing News.

The judge never called the little girl racist or even implied it. He specifically stated “This little girl certainly has been victimized, and she can’t help the way she feels,”. In case that is too complex for you (RWN) to understand, it means he doesn't think the little girl is racist. 

His declaration of racism is leveled at the girl's parents for "accepting that kind of mentality and fostering those type of stereotypes.” Do you need me to break that down for you, RWN? It means he's calling the parents racist, not the child.

Now, Judge Stevens' conclusion is (without having seen the rest of the impact statement) completely wrong. It's like he was looking for an out for the guy. He decides that the little girl's reaction is disturbing and unnatural. However, if the little girl were black and the invader white, the little black girl would be just as afraid of whitey as the white girl is of blacks. It is a completely natural reaction.

There is nothing from what I could see in the impact statement to suggest that the parents 'accepted' the girl's fear or fostered 'those type of stereotypes'. Is it possible to sue a judge for defamation? If it is, they certainly appear to have a case. The mother even stated plainly that they have relationships with African-American friends. He seems to have missed that in implying that they were racist. If there is anyone racist in this story it is not the little girl or her parents.

So, as I said, the story is bad enough that it doesn't need the misleading headline and assumptions by RWN. Their report is not a lot less dishonest than Judge Stevens' misguided accusations.