People across the state no doubt had a good chuckle over Jim Black's proposal that he be allowed to give free eye exams to poor kids rather than do hard time in federal prison. Is the man nuts?
   You've got to look at this from Black's perspective to understand how unfair this must seem to him. The former North Carolina House speaker turned felon is facing 10 years or more in federal prison on corruption charges. And sure, the Charlotte Observer reported today that he took an illegal $500,000 check from a lobbyist, then lied about it on his campaign reports.
   But it's not like Black killed anyone (that we know of). In the Mecklenburg County criminal justice system, the justice system that Jim Black built, probation would have been an extraordinarily tough sentence for Black's crimes. 
   Enter Exhibit A, Sir Marquise Battle. Battle, 20, was most recently picked up by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on July 5 for possession of a firearm by a felon and carrying a concealed weapon. 

                
   Battle, Black, Moore and Voltare

    Battle's record includes felony breaking and entering and larceny convictions in 2005 and murder and possession of a firearm convictions in 2006. So far though, he has served less than a year in prison on all of those charges.
   Yes, you read that right. On November 11, 2005, Battle shot and killed Lanyia McClure, 25, at a party on Citiside Drive. 
   A notice in Moore's court file states that he was charged with first degree murder and that the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office intended to "seek the death penalty in this matter, if this matter is not resolved by a guilty plea."  But as Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory recently reminded constituents in an email asking them to contact their state legislators and grovel for more money for the underfunded justice system here, there are 144 murder suspects in the Mecklenburg County jail awaiting trial and the DA has the resources to try just 12 of them a year. The rest must be plea bargained. That the DA doesn't have the resources to push for tougher plea deals -- under threat of going to a trial -- in the remaining cases is well known among defense attorneys and public defenders, who cut some incredible deals for their clients.
   So Battle got a heck of a deal -- as usual. Prosecutors were nice enough to consolidate the possession of a firearm by a felon charge (which carried a maximum of 44 months in prison) with the involuntary manslaughter charge (a maximum sentence of 59 months) that they let him plead to. In the end, Battle cut a plea deal for 15 to 18 months in prison total on both charges and served less than a year.
   He is not alone. Nirada Ricky Moore recently cut a plea deal with the county prosecutor that sentenced him to 17 to 21 months in prison after he bragged about killing his victim with one blow to the head. Jean Steven Voltare committed two armed robberies and then killed a man in a third armed robbery during a week-long crime spree in October 2005. Voltare walked away with a 10-year minimum sentence for all four crimes.
   The irony, of course, is that the Mecklenburg County criminal justice system is Black's legacy. The county court system was deliberately underfunded to the point of near-collapse over the last decade in part because of Black's lack on interest in sending felons of any kind to prison. 
   The state is supposed to be the primary funder of the courts in North Carolina. But on Black's watch, the court system starved for dollars while the state blew money on teapot museums, entertainment halls for Dolly Parton's brother and all manner of payola.
   All of this went down while Black was attending to more important matters -- like ensuring that struggling single mothers paid for mandatory eye exams their kids didn't need so that Black's optometrist buddies could pocket the cash.