June 5-11, 2008
By Alfred Lee
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Tuesday, June 10, the Hammer Museum hosts Judge James P. Gray, retired police chief Norm Stamper, and author and activist Marc Mauer in “The Crime of Punishment,” a discussion forum about the inequity in which the American criminal justice system is steeped and Tricky Dick’s still-lumbering “War on Drugs.”
Mauer indicates that although there’s (probably) no conspiracy afoot to cultivate this racism, Americans have tacitly consented to it by allowing clearly discriminatory policies to be enacted and enforced.
“There’s been a very concerted effort to arrest and incarcerate record numbers of people, most of them people of color. Most of the policy making has been very publicized,” says Mauer, who has directed programs on criminal justice reform for more than 25 years.
For example, he condemns the “two-tiered war on drugs” being waged in America. In affluent communities, drug abuse is treated as a disease with which users are afflicted, and rehab is the solution. But in low-income, non-white communities, drug abusers become criminals, and punitive incarceration is the solution. A dearth of resources available to members of these communities often makes counseling and treatment impossible.
According to Mauer, the maladies of America’s justice system run deeper than biased sentencing policy and torpid progressive legislation – higher rates of violent crime, availability of firearms, and a decidedly punitive approach to sentencing keep more Americans in jail longer. This helps explain why the U.S. has less than five percent of the world’s population, but more than a quarter of its prisoners.
“The massive prison system translates into limitations on democracy,” he says, citing the disenfranchisement of more than five million people during the upcoming election, including 13 percent of all black males.
But Mauer isn’t humming America’s funeral dirge just yet; he posits some solutions.
“We should have a dramatic reduction in the use of incarceration – in particular for people convicted of nonviolent property and drug crimes,” he says. He adds that the resources previously used for law enforcement and imprisonment should be reallocated to fund policies and programs designed to provide treatment for users.
These suggestions – along with institutions designed to ensure a successful transition from prison back into society, promote a frank dialogue concerning drug policy, and emphasize the importance of community and family involvement – could comprise a more sensitive, multifaceted solution.
“Research shows that prison has at best a modest impact on reducing crime,” Mauer says.
–Daniel Stainkamp
“The Crime of Punishment.” Tues. at 7 p.m. Free. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood, (310) 443-7000. hammer.ucla.edu.
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THIS WEEK IN THE CITY
THURSDAY 5
REMEMBERING RFK
Today’s 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination is the subject of more than one area art gallery. M+B’s “Paul Fusco: RFK Funeral Train” exhibits the photographs Fusco took of track-side mourners on June 5, 1968, as he accompanied Kennedy’s body making its way from New York to Arlington Cemetery via train (6-8 p.m.; free; 612 N. Almont Dr., L.A., 310-550-0050; mbfala.com). On Saturday, “Politics as Usual: As Seen by Harry Benson” opens at David Gallery. The show features images the photojournalist took of Kennedy’s presidential campaign (Through Aug. 2; free; 5797 Washington Blvd., Culver City, 323-939-9069; davidgallery.net).
FRIDAY 6
LIGHTS, CAMERA, DANCE!
Dance Camera West is meant to take advantage of the visual possibilities of film, and better even than most feature-length makers that do it for a living. The attempts to capture and expand dances for the festival’s opening program, “Screendance: A New Visual Language,” aren’t tied to narrative structure or even the normal physical logic of performance art. The month-long fest invites us to revel in this freedom of medium. Fri. at 8 p.m.; Sat. at 6 & 8 p.m. $15; $10 on Saturday. REDCAT, 631 W. Second St., downtown L.A., (213) 237-2800. dancecamerawest.org.
SATURDAY 7
ROMANIA’S REALISTS
Last year’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days catalyzed much hyperventilating about a Romanian new wave in cinema, but even that sucker-punch of a film could only contrast unfavorably with 2006’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, made by literal and aesthetic compatriot Cristi Puiu. The story of bumbling, alcoholic Lazarescu and his nightlong descent into the Kafkaesque hell of his country’s health care system is one of tragedy complicated by surprising grace and near-saintly humanism. 5 p.m. $10. Silent Movie Theatre, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A., (323) 655-2510. silentmovietheatre.com.
SUNDAY 8
DYKES IN LIKE
The sheer scale of L.A. Pride weekend spawns activism and pacifism, debauched dealings and family fun. The whole thing culminates with today’s parade numbering in the hundreds of thousands (11 a.m.; free; starts at Santa Monica Blvd. and Crescent Heights Blvd., West Hollywood; info: 323-969-8302 or lapride.org). The first annual “Dyke Day” is one of Pride’s many independently spun-off events, an all-ages day of comedy, music, spoken word, and dance in always-pleasant Barnsdall Art Park (Sat., noon-5:30 p.m.; free; Barnsdall Art Park, 4804 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; Info: myspace.com/dykeday).
MONDAY 9
L.A.’S MYTHMAKERS
“Los Angeles was the subject of the longest, loudest, most persistent promotional campaign in the history of the United States,” opine the notes for Tom Zimmerman’s Paradise Promoted: The Booster Campaign That Created Los Angeles, 1870-1930. The history buff has been making the rounds locally with his proud collection of 250 photographs and other rare ephemera from the turn of the 20th century. 7 p.m. Free. Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 449-5320. vromansbookstore.com.
TUESDAY 10
BUGGIN’ OUT
Before cable television was around to make spectacle of our personal obsessions, Maria Sibylla Merian was traversing exotic corners of the world in chase of caterpillars. Young and German Merian braved not only whatever gender barriers existed in the field of science in the 17th century, but also the tropical jungle of Suriname, where she studied and depicted everything from the metamorphosis of insects, to crocodiles and snakes. Starting today, the Getty presents “Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science.” Through Aug. 31. Getty Center, West Pavilion, 1200 Getty Center Dr., L.A., (310) 440-7300. getty.edu.
WEDNESDAY 11
I’M IN UR CASTLEZ
How scene is tonight’s Crystal Castles show going to be? 1) They make dance music. 2) They make dance music that sounds like old-school videogames. 3) They’re named after a fictional castle from a He-Man spin-off cartoon series. 4) They’ve done remixes of the Klaxons, HEALTH, and fucking Uffie. 5) The show is sponsored by Dim Mak. You’ve been warned. 9:30 p.m. $17; $15 advance. The Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 276-2222. roxyonsunset.com.
Published: 06/04/2008
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