When I first heard the news, I was so angry that I was unable to think of anything but retaliation. Where should we riot? What can we destroy? Who can we hurt? Like many people, I craved the sense of power, however ephemeral, that is produced by making our enemies hurt the way they’ve hurt us. Even now, as I make an unequivocal call for peace, a huge part of me wants to see somebody pay for this egregious miscarriage of justice.

The problem, however, is that reactionary violence doesn’t help. All the rioting and looting in the world will not return Sean Bell to his wife, child, parents, and friends. Destroying police cars will do nothing to stop the next detectives from seeing unarmed black bodies as a threat that warrants lethal force. Inflicting bodily harm on the three officer-assassins will not prevent the next judge from ignoring the evidence and ruling in favor of an arrogant, white supremacist, proto-fascist police state.

Although I understand what we shouldn’t do, I am at a loss about what we should do. How do heal from this latest tragedy? How do we achieve justice for Sean Bell and his family? How do we prevent the next senseless murder from happening? How do we fight back?

As always, I'll be right up front with you. I don't like the whole concept of "Big Brother" speed cameras. But let's call speed cameras what they really are. Speed monitoring cameras are revenue grabbing wolves masquerading in the sheep clothing of public safety.

I am aware that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Governors' Highway Safety Association and several public opinion polls nationwide support the use of speed cameras as public safety tools. Studies show that where speed cameras are located, speeding is reduced by as much as 70%. If speed cameras really reduce traffic injuries and fatalities, of course, I would be foolish to oppose them. However, the statistics on speed cameras ability to deter traffic accidents are mixed.

Few things in the world are certain. But one certainty is that government will give the stamp of approval on just about any new way to take dollars from our pockets. I sincerely hope that the speed cameras turn out to be the effective public safety tools they are proclaimed to be. I know they will turn out to be the lucrative sources of revenue they have proven to be. 

Hillary Clinton's anti-crime plan, rolled out today in Philadelphia, smacks of the 1990s. As Ben Smith notes, "In a way, domestic terrorism -- for political purposes -- has replaced crime as a focus of policy statements and posturing." Indeed, concern about urban violence and policing just isn't on the national radar these days, although the criminal justice reform movement and anti-prison work are actually gaining in prominence on the progressive left. Clinton tips her hat to those communities by promising to invest $1 billion in programs to decrease the number of offenders in prisons and juvenile detention facilities, as well as prevent recidivism.

Once again, even this late in the game, here's a domestic issue on which Clinton has managed to out-flank Barack Obama. But no mainstream candidate has really taken any big risk on criminal justice issues. That would entail, I think, speaking honestly about the failed drug war.