Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows about Ferguson. About the shooting of a young, unarmed man. There is little I can say on the topic of race in America generally or Ferguson specifically that hasn't already been said in some form or fashion. However, what is deeply troubling to me right now is the sudden focus on the victim's friend and shooting witness, Dorian Johnson's criminal record, consisting of an arrest for theft 3 years ago and this sort of underlying murmur about whether the shooting could have somehow been "deserved." WHO CARES IF DORIAN STOLE SOMETHING ONCE? The focus, the media screams, is whether Dorian is a credible witness. Three years ago Dorian stole something and he may have lied about it. Three years ago Dorian was a teenager. Is there seriously anyone anywhere in the world who didn't tell a lie once - we can start lying when we're just toddlers ("No, I didn't hit my sister," "No, I didn't break the vase,") and most of us have taken something at some point that didn't belong to us. In no way am I excusing or condoning theft but I don't think stealing something suddenly makes you a pariah who can't truthfully testify about seeing your friend shot and killed before your eyes. What is wrong with us that our focus is on decimating the character of the victim? Dorian is a victim, too. He watched his friend get gunned down. That is something horrible. The facts are not all out. I am not ready to hang the cop who shot Michael Brown until all the evidence is in because I believe in a rule of law and a justice system in which we are innocent until proven guilty...Michael Brown deserved to have that principle applied to him, too. So why is Michael Brown dead? Why was he shot? For what? There is focus on this idea he may have committed a theft, too. Who cares? Why are we talking about that? Does this somehow imply he deserved it? Excuse his death? In the United States, theft is not a capital crime and, even if it was, you get a trial first. Innocent until proven guilty, remember? If you committed a theft three years ago, should your friend be murdered as punishment? Does that justify or help make sense of anything?
The point is that the focus shouldn't be on the types of young men Michael and Dorian were - nerds, geeks, troublemakers, athletes - it doesn't matter. What matters is whether someone who promised to serve our community, who we gave the power of being a law enforcement officer to, who gets to carry a gun and is charged with maintaining peace and order, whether that person committed what was anything from a cold blooded murder at worst to a horrible mistake to self defense at best and why they did it. Ferguson is responding shamefully to the inquiry. When we turn on the news and see Ferguson police officers harassing journalists (of all colors) or hear one of the (white) police officers screaming to a predominately black crowd of protester, "Bring it you fucking animals!" Well, that's a race problem, ladies and gentlemen. No matter what the political leaders of Ferguson may say, no matter how much they want to deny a truth that's staring them straight in the face, there are deep imbedded race problems in this community. Whether the shooting of Michael Brown was a result of that race problem, I don't know. But I do know that the people in Ferguson should be responsible for their actions, should be accountable. Should step up to the plate and recognize and acknowledge their problems and start taking proactive steps to fix them, not to just smear people's characters and play the blame game. We charge police officers with one of the highest duties there is - to serve and to protect us. If we cannot trust those we charge and trust to enforce the law to obey it, then there is no justice. So, the obsession on Dorian's arrest three years ago is smoke and mirrors meant to allow cowards to ignore the real race problems and to allow them the luxury and laziness of refusing to roll up their sleeves and work on fixing those problems.
I once had a pro bono client who was an inmate in a Massachusetts prison. Guards beat the living daylights out of him one day. There was no justification or excuse. People would ask me, "But what did he do to get into prison?" As though that justifies being beaten. Last time I checked, the 8th Amendment was still good. The police are essential for a well-functioning society and their importance underscores the very high standards they must be held to. We trust them with our lives, our safety, our families, our communities. We trust them to carry around deadly weapons and to put men and women in cages. We can't trust just anyone with that kind of responsibility and power - we must trust people who are trained, who are decent and who hold themselves to a high standard. The law enforcement profession is and should be noble and respected. That's why it's so important to get rid of those within it who don't uphold those high standards of justice. They'll bring all the good people down with them and betray the trust of their communities and, really, who wants that?
The point is that the focus shouldn't be on the types of young men Michael and Dorian were - nerds, geeks, troublemakers, athletes - it doesn't matter. What matters is whether someone who promised to serve our community, who we gave the power of being a law enforcement officer to, who gets to carry a gun and is charged with maintaining peace and order, whether that person committed what was anything from a cold blooded murder at worst to a horrible mistake to self defense at best and why they did it. Ferguson is responding shamefully to the inquiry. When we turn on the news and see Ferguson police officers harassing journalists (of all colors) or hear one of the (white) police officers screaming to a predominately black crowd of protester, "Bring it you fucking animals!" Well, that's a race problem, ladies and gentlemen. No matter what the political leaders of Ferguson may say, no matter how much they want to deny a truth that's staring them straight in the face, there are deep imbedded race problems in this community. Whether the shooting of Michael Brown was a result of that race problem, I don't know. But I do know that the people in Ferguson should be responsible for their actions, should be accountable. Should step up to the plate and recognize and acknowledge their problems and start taking proactive steps to fix them, not to just smear people's characters and play the blame game. We charge police officers with one of the highest duties there is - to serve and to protect us. If we cannot trust those we charge and trust to enforce the law to obey it, then there is no justice. So, the obsession on Dorian's arrest three years ago is smoke and mirrors meant to allow cowards to ignore the real race problems and to allow them the luxury and laziness of refusing to roll up their sleeves and work on fixing those problems.
I once had a pro bono client who was an inmate in a Massachusetts prison. Guards beat the living daylights out of him one day. There was no justification or excuse. People would ask me, "But what did he do to get into prison?" As though that justifies being beaten. Last time I checked, the 8th Amendment was still good. The police are essential for a well-functioning society and their importance underscores the very high standards they must be held to. We trust them with our lives, our safety, our families, our communities. We trust them to carry around deadly weapons and to put men and women in cages. We can't trust just anyone with that kind of responsibility and power - we must trust people who are trained, who are decent and who hold themselves to a high standard. The law enforcement profession is and should be noble and respected. That's why it's so important to get rid of those within it who don't uphold those high standards of justice. They'll bring all the good people down with them and betray the trust of their communities and, really, who wants that?
RSS Feed
