It was all right here months ago:
But David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh professor who specializes in law-enforcement issues, says that even if the Justice Department declines to prosecute, local officials should act independently.
Federal investigators must meet a higher burden of proof, he notes. While a district attorney might prosecute on evidence of assault, for example, the FBI must "prove all of that, plus that [the crime] was done to violate federal civil rights."
"What you would not want to see is the federal investigation close ... and then the state and local [authorities] say, 'If they can't, we can't,'" Harris adds. "If that would happen, there would be questions to be asked." (CP, Chris Young)
Recall exactly what US Attorney David Hickton took pains to explain on Wednesday. Recognize that the Office of Municipal Investigations (OMI) already announced it was standing down a day later.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has said he would wait until federal authorities were finished before deciding what he would do. His spokesman, Mike Manko, said he would have no comment until the office contacts the U.S. attorney's office next week and receives reports from OMI. (Trib, Margaret Harding)
Good that he is taking a deliberate, serious approach. His is the correct arena for this dispute right now.
One must fight to remember that the impossibility of a federal civil rights case does not mean the City could not have engaged in some systemic civil injustice -- nor that the officers necessarily were innocent of any sort of conceivable professional misconduct, regardless of whether we take Jordan Miles at his every word. Yes, OMI took a pass even on issuing what many would consider to be slaps on the wrist -- perhaps out of recognition that these men have already been transmogrified into regional pariahs, perhaps out of fear of jeopardizing other litigation. But the public rally today appears to be timely and appropriate in terms of its plea to the DA's office.
After that, we'll see.
We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that those police officers we train, prime and send into the likelihood of sudden, brutal, racially-charged confrontation cannot intelligibly be charged as criminals. Not by their co-conspirators at any rate. Yet even at the end of that day, there need be no dearth of teachable and accountability moments -- just not of the type some of us dream about.
*-UPDATE: The "Alliance for Police Accountability" is taking their brief directly to the Chief of Police, as well as to OMI.
We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that those police officers we train, prime and send into the likelihood of sudden, brutal, racially-charged confrontation cannot intelligibly be charged as criminals. Not by their co-conspirators at any rate
ReplyDeleteYou look better without the tin foil hat.
A Plea for Patience
ReplyDeleteIt's been 480 days. What is the timeframe of patience?
We have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that those police officers we train, prime and send into the likelihood of sudden, brutal, racially-charged confrontation...
Was this a sudden, brutal, racially charged confrontation before the cops started beating him and ripping the hair out of his head?
... cannot intelligibly be charged as criminals.
So they are, what, beyond/above the law?
If justice cannot or will not be enforced, there will not be any justice.
I (respectfully) wonder if you don't want to recalibrate this one.
Vannever - I'm not uncomfortable with anything I wrote, and I'm not at all uncomfortable with your criticisms of it. I had an inkling this was going to be one of those, "Whelp, this isn't going to please anybody!" segments.
ReplyDeleteI will say in terms of housekeeping, I'm confused why the federal aspect seemed to take so long to reach its epilogue, considering what was leaked to KDKA and Marty Griffin in August.
I'll also say that if I had the opportunity to compare the full federal report with the full OMI report, and then to do my own investigation, I'd feel good about my chances of discovering some teachable morsels.
So they are, what, beyond/above the law?
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question V...for the gun-toting youth of Homewood.
If justice cannot or will not be enforced, there will not be any justice.
True. Especially when you alienate the officers who police the neighborhood.
as an attorney, I dare not say that this case had nothing to do with an allege assault committed against the three officers by Mr. Miles. However, based on the facts and evidence this case is about an unforunate racial profile against Mr. Miles, inwhich the three officers worked in concert to cover up. Moreover, they (the officers) who at the time Mr. Miles was arrested for loiter and prowling (these charges were eventually dropped) was working under the color of state law, which simply means that they should have been prosecuted for conducting an illgeal and unwarranted stop, search and seizure, false charges, deprivation of Mr. Miles constitional and civil rights. Likewise, the public must understand that law enforcement officials often do the wrong thing and are able to get away with it because of the excuse.. "I was acting in the course of my duties." without getting to in death in this case, here is the catch...if Mr. Miles was a young, white suburban teen who would have been beaten by three black cops, we would not be having this conversation. I have always said...although we need law enforcement, you cannot be an effective law enforcement official if you bias against any group or particular kind of people. Additionally, if the Department of State is standing by these three officers, what hope is there for Mr. Miles?
ReplyDelete