Mike Levine of ABC news published an article today entitled "4 Reasons Cases Like Ferguson Are Hard for Feds to Prosecute". The article examines the ways in which Federal Prosecutors will have to pursue Officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot 18 year old Michael Brown on August 9th, 2014. Following a decision by a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will get to work. He understands the overwhelming lack of guarantee in bringing federal charges against Wilson.
Following an investigation into such a matter, Levine illustrates the four biggest challenges to charging Wilson with violating a citizens civil rights. The four reasons are as follows: "The law", "Issues of Proof", "Strong presumption in favor of law enforcement" and "Selective leaking/ public opinion". For sake of this entry, I will focus on the first, and shiniest obstacle Levine writes on, "The Law".
Federal prosecutors would have to prove Wilson's overall thought process, leading him to surmise that Brown posed as threatening was "unreasonable" and that he willfully deprived Brown of his constitutional rights. Examining the "reasonableness" of Wilson's decisions post shooting is not a difficult task. But in order to pursue their prosecution, the players involved must be certain that Wilson, despite acting within a split-second moment, acted "unreasonably". In order to discern whether or not Wilson acted outside of the constitution in depriving Brown of his constitutional rights is also extremely difficult. Investigation into Wilson's personal life is necessary in order for a decision to be made on the federal level. "If [the amount of force] was reasonable given all of what [Wilson] was confronting at the time, then he can't be charged". (Yeomans)
The difficulty the federal government may face depending on the Ferguson's jury decision brings up the question we have been continually confronted with in History 243 this semester: how do we confront and engage society? I think the examination of Wilson's personal life is paramount in measuring the amount of force he exerted on Brown. Wilson 28, was likely raised by guardians who experienced segregated spaces. Depending on how they were raised and conditioned, deep, psychosocial nuances may be engrained within Darren Wilson as a result of his upbringing. If such speculation is accurate, I believe the amount of force Brown was subjected to was unreasonable. Though Wilson may have grown up in a deeply sickened household, his actions this past summer must be met with justice. Ultimately, this simple logic only scratches the surface of an anticipated event brimming with implication.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/reasons-cases-ferguson-hard-feds-prosecute/story?id=27054979
A blog for the Civil Rights Movement class at Rhodes College, Fall 2014
I eagerly await the decision of the grand jury in Ferguson to see if charges will be pressed in this case. I think that the most difficult thing for most about this case is that we cannot seem to get a clear story about what occurred in the moments before Michael Brown was shot. Witness accounts vary greatly and physical evidence is contradictory to much of the witness accounts. Hopefully the grand jury will be presented with the most unbiased evidence possible to inform their decision.
ReplyDeleteI think this case demonstrates the problems we have discussed in class concerning the policing of black bodies. The way in which Office Wilson stopped Michael Brown and his friend while walking in the street has been contested. Some say that he was violent and uttered racial slurs while others say that it was simply Wilson telling them to get out of the street. The very fact that Michael Brown and his friend were African American probably informed Darren Wilson's decision to stop Michael Brown. The next minute of their interaction is obviously contested greatly. Some of the physical evidence, including blood spatter analysis, shell casings and ballistics tests, supports Wilson’s account of the shooting. However, it still needs to be determined if Wilson broke the law by the way in which he confronted Brown in the first place.
I agree with the above comment. Wilson not being indicted will bring much controversy for the next many months. It is a matter of getting the facts right in this case because there are so many conflicting stories regarding what happened on that day. Personally, I am torn and do not know what to think regarding this decision. It will be very interesting to see the reaction of the American public as more and more information comes out about that day.
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