It's been over a year since Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed 12-year old Tamir Rice, and now a Cuyahoga County grand jury has decided not to indict him for it, thus proving that grand juries will also let the ham sandwich walk, if that's what the prosecutor wants.Make no mistake, this whole process was a sham. Start with the fact that it took a year … [Read more...] about Don’t Let the Tamir Rice Grand Jury Distract From the Goal
Police
The Argument For Pulling the Trigger
New York Times reporter Matt Apuzzo has a fascinating story about Dr. William J. Lewinski's work as an expert witness in police shooting cases. When police officers shoot people under questionable circumstances, Dr. Lewinski is often there to defend their actions. Among the most influential voices on the subject, he has testified in or consulted in nearly 200 cases over the … [Read more...] about The Argument For Pulling the Trigger
Racism Detected In Ferguson
New York Times reporter Matt Apuzzo says that the Justice Department's investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri police has found extensive racial problems:Police officers in Ferguson, Mo., have routinely violated the constitutional rights of the city’s black residents, the Justice Department has concluded in a scathing report that accuses the officers of using excessive … [Read more...] about Racism Detected In Ferguson
It’s Probably More of a Dingy Gray…
When I read Spencer Ackerman's story in the Guardian about a Chicago Police "black site" right here in the city -- where CPD supposedly keeps people in secret to interrogate them without access to a lawyer -- I was skeptical. Scott Greenfield is too: How is it possible that this off-the-books facility existed for so long, and yet nobody, no lawyer, no judge, raised its … [Read more...] about It’s Probably More of a Dingy Gray…
Should It Be a Crime to Hate Police?
One of the implicit assumptions I make here is that the criminal justice system is not exempt from the general principle that social institutions enforce social norms. In a society hostile to minorities, giving authorities another law to enforce is giving them another way to punish minorities. Even a law intended to help minorities can end up hurting them if the intended effect … [Read more...] about Should It Be a Crime to Hate Police?