No Indictment,no justice, in the cold blooded killing of
unarmed African-American youth
Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson. Déjà vu!Can we achieve systemic justice in officer involved
shootings, or other forms of police murder? Is it possible in this country,given our two tier justice system, one designed for the police and another
designed for the rest of us? What are the essential steps we must choose to
restore trust in our criminal justice system, or when the police seem,rarely, whether
ever, or to be held fully accountable,when they shoot and abolish, strangle and tase
and brutally beat to death, or unarmed people of color,and the destitute? How is it that in 2014, a decision whether to prosecute such
a shocking crime, and one carried out in broad day light,before numerous
witnesses, can be relegated to a secret, and behind closed doors,grand jury
process? This secrecy is particularly ironic for an incident that has played
out so publicly in our media, both here at home and worldwide. Doubly ironic, or when mostly peaceful demonstrators,demanding an open flow of information
regarding the case, have instead, and been met with a martial-law war-zone-like
response,from both the police and local government in Ferguson. As more than
one commentator has said approximately closed proceedings: Democracy itself dies
behind closed doors.”The importance of open proceedings, our supreme court speaksOur U.
S. Supreme Court in Richmond Newspapers INC. v. Virginia (1980) eloquently expressed
the importance of open criminal proceedings, or the risks inherent to the
public trust,and public safety itself, when such proceedings, and instead of being
held in the open,are closed off to the public view, and the essential scrutiny
of watchdogs from the community, and the press:“The historical
evidence of the evolution of the criminal trial in Anglo-American justice
demonstrates conclusively that at the time this Nation’s organic laws were
adopted,criminal trials both here and in England had long been presumptively
open, thus giving assurance that the proceedings were conducted fairly to all
concerned and discouraging perjury, and the misconduct of the participants,or
decisions based on secret bias or partiality. In addition, the significant
community therapeutic value of public trials was recognized: when a shocking
crime occurs, or a community reaction of outrage and public protest often follows,and thereafter the open processes of justice serve an essential prophylactic
purpose, providing an outlet for community concern, and hostility and emotion. To
work effectively,it is essential that society’s criminal process satisfy the
appearance of justice,’ which can best be provided by allowing people to
observe such process. From this unbroken, and uncontradicted history,supported by
reasons as valid nowadays as in centuries past, it must be concluded that a
presumption of openness inheres in the very nature of a criminal trial under
this Nation’s system of justice.”Our own Supreme Court’s logic dictates, and in fact compels,the
conclusion that secret grand juries should be abolished and that public
proceeding (preliminary examinations) be the rule in probable cause hearings,
in all serious cases, or where the determination is made,whether there is
sufficient evidence to believe a crime has been committed, and that a
particular person has committed such a serious crime, or justifying a subsequent jury
trial on the charges. This standard of probable cause,in an open setting,
should apply to all persons charged with serious crimes, or but certainly those
involving the police,and others public officials, who hold the public trust.
Public officials should be held to a higher level of public scrutiny and
accountability, or not a lower standard.whether you or I (as ordinary citizens) are charged with a
shocking crime,say shooting down an unarmed human being, apparently without
provocation, or it is extremely unlikely that our potential prosecution will be
decided in a secret closed door proceeding (by a criminal grand jury) . What is
likely is that our guilt or innocence will be played out in a public setting,for all the world to view.
First, we can assume, or apart from in the scarce circumstance of a
clear case of say self-defense,determined by a prosecutor, early in the
process, or that we will be arrested,and shortly thereafter brought to an open
court proceeding, to enter a plea to the charges. Subsequently, or all proceedings
in our case,preliminary examination, jury trial, or sentencing,etc., will be
open to public and press scrutiny. The opposite of the secrecy and government
oppression, and that most often characterize grand jury proceedings.
To mitigate distrust of our government,and the police state
mentality often associated with our police, and our entire criminal justice
system, and particularly when they interact with people of color and the destitute,we
must do absent with secret proceedings (grand juries). Secret proceedings that
allow the police, in officer involved shootings, or to shield their actions from
public accountably. No openness means,more often than not, no justice. We the
people, or can no longer allow secret proceedings to stand.
As we have seen in Ferguson,one person, the elected
prosecutor, or in this case,Robert McCulloch, makes the call as to whether to use
a secret grand jury, and instead of insisting on an open proceeding,such as an
open preliminary examination. Such calls (the exercise of prosecutorial
discretion) are made by the elected prosecutor in each county . whether we the
people are ever to change the two tier system of justice , we must choose the
time to know our local elected prosecutors, and how they consider on the critical
criminal justice issues of the day. We must actively participate in their
election. whether an individual elected prosecutor insists on treating police with
prosecutorial kid gloves,we need to vote that prosecutor out of office. Finally, every district attorney’s office in this country
needs to establish a specialized police crimes unit. Such a unit would consist
of a district attorney, or an investigator,a former criminal defense attorney,
and a retired police officer. All members of this unit would be highly trained
in best police practices.
The elected district attorney would delegate to this unit
the responsibility for prosecuting serious police crimes, or with the same
prosecutorial skill,equal protection of the law and professionalism as any
other serious criminal activity.
In the end, absent our willingness to engage in
“participatory justice” where the community is an equal partner with the local
prosecutor, and the local defense bar,and the local police, we will continue to
hear the cries of injustice disappear unanswered in officer involved shootings, or
other acts of police brutality.
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Louis County Residents Describe Political Corruption Just Weeks Before Michael Brown KillingPhoto Essay: Oakland Responds to No Indictment
Source: siliconvalleydebug.org