Shame on those who have chosen to place divisive racial politics ahead of public safety in a reckless defense of Judge Laura Blackburne. The judge was reassigned from the Treatment Court to the Civil Court after she allowed a suspect in a violent assault
Stephen Singer, the former president of the Queens County Bar Association, told a forum held by the Jamaica NAACP that the police were angry at Blackburne because they were “outfoxed.” He argued that the police wanted to question the suspect before giving him his rights. “The cop was ticked off because she thwarted their evil plan,” he said.
Let's see if we have this right. The cops are the bad guys and the judge is a good guy for allowing a convicted drug dealer to escape before a detective could question him.
Blackburne's defenders, including Eric Adams of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, continue to paint any criticism of the judge as a race issue. They claim that Blackburne, who was hired and fired by Mayor David Dinkins as head of the Housing Authority, was picked on because she was a black woman and not because she wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars on junkets, a pink leather couch and other luxuries in her executive office.
By shamelessly playing the race card, her defenders do damage to the very people that they claim to represent. Blacks have suffered more than any other race in New York City from the crimes committed by violent felons. The thugs, the robbers and the rapists are the bad guys. If the police, who come in all colors, want to use trickery, which by the way is both legal and moral, to put these bad guys behind bars, they deserve the public's complete support. Any judge, no matter what race, who prefers to side with the bad guys and against the police and the victims of crime, should take a hike.
If Judge Blackburne was right, defend her on the merits of her actions, but don’t say she can’t be criticized and should be blindly defended by black leaders because she happens to be a black woman.
The American dream
As a young man Kurt Weishaupt fled the Nazi Holocaust, narrowly escaping death in a concentration camp. When he reached the shores of America, he was determined to pay back his debt to humanity. He did so in spectacular fashion.
Weishaupt was living in Germany when Hitler came to power. He first fled to Milan, Italy and later to nice, France, where he met his wife. There Weishaupt and his wife were placed in a concentration camp before being put on a train en route to Africa. They escaped and eventually boarded a boat headed for America. Even then he was nearly captured by German submarine officers who boarded his ship at sea in search of Jewish refugees.
On his 80th birthday, Weishaupt, a longtime resident of Flushing, explained his world view. “There is a wisdom of the ages. First with years of hard work, then by providing security for your loved ones and your children's futures. Finally, the most satisfying phase, when showing gratitude for all you have been given.”
If showing gratitude is indeed the most satisfying phase of life, then Weishaupt must have died a truly happy man. We can think of no man who was more generous with his wealth and his time than this beloved philanthropist. On June 30, at the age of 90, Weishaupt died at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in Flushing after suffering a stroke.
Weishaupt said surviving the Nazi ordeal was nothing less than a “miracle.” Since he landed on the American shores at the age of 27, countless people have benefited from that miracle. Weishaupt made his fortune a stamp maker and wholesaler. As a member of the Flushing Rotary and chairman of the board of the Gift of Life organization, he helped to bring children from impoverished countries to America for life-saving surgery.
Those who knew Weishaupt best say his humanitarian spirit and generosity knew no bounds. In addition to the Gift of Life, he was active in many organizations, including St. Mary's Children's Hospital, the Salvation Army, the Ronald McDonald House, the American Cancer Society, the Flushing Y, March of Dimes and the United Jewish Appeal.
Quietly, with little fanfare, Weishaupt and his wife lived the American dream. They came to this country with nothing but the shirt on their backs. They worked hard and built a successful life. Through it all they never forgot to share their blessings with the less fortunate.
