Sometimes the judicial system works against white racist violence

As this federal court case fro Mississippi illustrates, sometimes the judicial system works against white racist violence: Therese Apel, Women get maximum sentences in hate crime death Clariom-Ledger 04/10/2015.

But that doesn't mean that the system always works, much less that it's free from white racist bias. That's a conclusion that defenders of racial discrimination in the justice system love to use cases like this to make.

And it certainly doesn't mean that there was nothing racial about the crime. In fact, these two defendants pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime in this case.

The partner of the man murdered in this case addressed the defendants at sentencing:

[James Craig] Anderson's partner, James Bradfield was emotional as he reiterated to the court how much different life is without Anderson.

"The days are never the same. Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries... On a sunny day, all I can see is Craig out there working in the yard, trying to do everything he could for his family, and you took his life for no reason," he said. "And you didn't want to turn yourself in. You thought you'd get away with it."

He also let Richardson and Graves know he holds them just as responsible as Dedmon.

"You texted everyone that night, but you couldn't call 911? You are as much to blame as if you'd been behind the wheel," he said. "You're babies yourselves, but I don't feel sorry for you. You knew what you were doing."

Both women have admitted to riding in the truck with Dedmon when Anderson was killed. They also admitted to enlisting others to go with them to Jackson, which they called "Jafrica," to assault African Americans.