To be clear, the grand juror is suing to be allowed to talk about the proceedings. He/she contends that McCullough is misrepresenting what occurred. The lawsuit doesn’t (and can’t) say how many jurors favored a prosecution, but does point out that it could have been as many as eight of the twelve.
The NYT:
Will they sit on a final decision, as they have in the Trayvon Martin case?
Racism in Ferguson isn’t limited to the PD. Disgusting emails were found in city accounts:
Sadly, nothing in the report is surprising.
Pretty much what could be expected and concluded without the added waste of time and money.
It should be noted that Darren Wilson was not “cleared” - there was no evidence that proved his innocence, which I would consider to be “clearing” his name. Rather, they simply acknowledged what everyone already knew - there was insufficient evidence of guilt.
Well, they were also investigating the department as a whole, and the findings there were substantial! Not sure what the next move is, but I am still glad they took the time to do the investigation.
I agree that it was very obvious to a lot of us that Ferguson has a big problem with discrimination and racism. However, I doubt that that was going to change without this report. So it was not time and money wasted.
@cosmicfish - As to the next move, DOJ has proposed reforms. Ferguson will decide to either adopt them or fight them.
In general, I think both reports were pretty much what most local people expected.
The mayor held a news conference yesterday discussing some of the improvements they have already made. I don’t think they will fight the reforms. They will either implement them, or if too costly, turn policing over to St. Louis County or someone else. I thought it was interesting that Chief Jackson did not attend the news conference.
The thing is, Ferguson is one small community surrounded by other very similar communities. The problems are most likely not limited to Ferguson.
I don’t think the Dept. Of Justice could have come to any other decision concerning whether or not to indict Officer Darren Wilson on Federal charges. But its findings on The Ferguson Police Dept. were incredibly damning. It shows how the community reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown was a virtually guaranteed culmination of decades of racist actions and policies by the FPD.
At one point the Cincinnati PD had a similarly toxic relationship with the AFAM community it policed, but good faith efforts by that dept. to turn things around (along with Federal oversite) have apparently resulted in much needed changes. Whether or not such changes are possible in Ferguson remains to be seen. But if the racism displayed by the emails sited in the DOJ report are indimic to the FPD as a whole (and there’s ample evidence to believe that it might be), it’s going to take a whole lot of work, and probably no small amount of house cleaning.
I too agree that the DOJ couldn’t indict Wilson.
But reading the report, I also understand why Ferguson was a tinderbox and the killing of Michael Brown was the spark. Police siccing dogs on random black kids? Police openly sending around racist emails? Arresting black people for (I’m not making this up) “manner of walking in the roadway”? Putting a woman in jail for six days for a parking violation?
Plus the police treated their residents as cash machines.
LasMa, AdvMom, Poethearts, Cardinal Fang…I emphatically agree with you all. Ferguson was a maelstrom waiting to happen; a guaranteed revolt because the citizens long felt and actually saw that their government was against them.
I am so glad that this particular DOJ report has brought into the sunshine, as the US Supreme Court used to say, the insidious habit of local governments criminalizing minor economic crimes (parking fines, non-moving traffic violations etc. I thought that our nation had eliminated poor houses and debtors’ prisons generations ago.
Or, the DOJ could have said calm down you guys there is nothing here in the MB case months ago. They didn’t despite being fully aware of that information and instead moved the ball and dragged out the entire mess. Now, the family attorney says he’s filing a civil case against the cop. It never ends.
I think the DOJ report was very important. If it is untrue the police department and city should publically challenge it and prove it. If not they should face severe consequences including removing everyone of them from their positions if the knew these things and did nothing to change it.
The Ferguson police are going to have a heck of a time defending themselves against a civil suit that alleges racism. “I’m not racist but I sic police dogs on black kids, put black people in jail for parking violations, arrest black people for sitting in their car after playing basketball, and tase black people on whims.” Yeah, that’s going to fly in court.
From what I’ve read in previous exposes, Ferguson is typical of the tiny municipalities in the area. They’re all like that. A main revenue source for all the little cities and towns is fines for traffic violations, and their court systems are crooked, deliberately making it difficult for people who are in a tiny amount of trouble not to get in more trouble.
Whats sad is that there are many “Fergusons” in our nation. Hopefully this will shine a light on unfair practices in other municipalities.
Really? What could Wilson have done?
I think that’s everywhere. I got a ticket a few years ago on NY throughway. All I had to do was pay a stiff fine. As far as i paid up, it won’t show in the record. Tha same in my neighboring township. When they changed the traffic light to LED, I couldn’t see the “No Turn on Red” sign and turned right on red following the driver in front of me. $90. It’s a well-to-do township.
How is Wilson going to defend himself? I am guessing Jesse Jackson/ Al Sharpton machine will back Brown family. Is Wilson getting any help? Does he deserve to be skinned alive?
Most cities and towns do not draw a significant portion of their revenue from traffic fines. That’s abnormal. We shouldn’t fund our town’s schools, or parks, or zoning enforcement, from traffic fines.
Igloo said: “How is Wilson going to defend himself? I am guessing Jesse Jackson/ Al Sharpton machine will back Brown family. Is Wilson getting any help? Does he deserve to be skinned alive?”
I must have missed the news flash that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton wear black judicial robes, or that they had won election to their respective local courts of law.
Yes, some localities seem to emphasize traffic fines etc. as revenue.
http://www.thenation.com/article/178845/town-turned-poverty-prison-sentence#
And…
http://www.thenation.com/article/178845/town-turned-poverty-prison-sentence#
Troubling but not odious per se, UNTIL town police start imposing this particular form of revenue generation/property seizure/loss of rights in a bigoted and discriminatory manner. That’s what they have been doing in Ferguson MO.