CNN is reporting on the unrest in Ferguson after the grand jury refused to indict the police office in the Michael Brown shooting.
CNN had part of the grand jury testimony that contains a far different version of the encounter, than what was the official version. It looks fairly obvious to me that someone lied to the grand jury, but the prosecutor didn’t challenge it.
People are in the street and they are angry.
On-line Opinion Magazine featuring annoyed rumblings from the leading edge of the Baby Boom firmly tied to a reality-based world.
Established: 21 November 2004
The opinions expressed in Comments are those of the individuals making them. Truly absurd comments and opinions are subject to being cruelly mocked, but "flame wars" will take place on someone else's dime.
Your first comment, all comments with extensive links, and random comments that the software decides it doesn't like for no discernible reason will be held for moderation.
[Be aware that for unknown reasons the software rejects comments shorter than 15 characters, so if you want to leave a short comment fill the gap with periods ........]
4 comments
The outcome was as expected. Get used to it. This is the new norm. *shrug*
http://allpoetry.com/I-Know-Why-The-Caged-Bird-Sings
Rage against the right.
The contempt that the white power structure of St. Louis County has towards its black population is surpassed only by its stupidity. Holding a secret trial rigged to acquit is not justice by any definition of the word, and without justice, the only public order is that imposed at gunpoint. There are 461,000 sworn police officers in the United States. The reality is that there isn’t enough of them to impose public order at gunpoint upon over 300 million people. The only reason there is public order is because most people *want* to be orderly, and most people want to be orderly because there is an expectation that doing so will result in justice. When there is no justice, the desire to be orderly deserts.
A grand jury doesn’t determine the truth, it simply looks at the evidence to determine if there was probable cause to believe that there was sufficient evidence to establish that a crime was committed. If there was a crime, is there sufficient evidence to believe one or more suspects committed that crime. The trial jury is tasked with determining what evidence is true, and if the evidence establishes the guilt of the defendant(s) beyond reasonable doubt.
Grand jury proceedings are secret and one-sided, so the public doesn’t actually know what evidence was presented, and there is no one to challenge the evidence. It also does not preclude another grand jury being empaneled on the case and indicting the police officer – there is no double jeopardy involved with a grand jury.
The people of Missouri have been ill-served by the way this was handled, and there is no closure. The trouble will continue because justice was not served. The people of Ferguson definitely ‘Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’.