Attorney General Eric Holder travelled to Ferguson, Missouri, Wednesday to personally intervene in the investigation of the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unprecedented and highly questionable move. In a column published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Holder claimed that the Justice Department would conduct an investigation that would be “fair” and “independent.” But given Holder’s biased views on race and the history of his tenure at DOJ that we outline in our new book, “Obama’s Enforcer: Eric Holder’s Justice Department,” we have serious doubts that his department can conduct an impartial investigation. This is particularly true given the hostility he displayed towards law enforcement when he claimed at a meeting with local community groups that he had been supposedly targeted by police for speeding in New Jersey and jogging through Georgetown because he is black. The issue in Ferguson is possible police misconduct. Investigating such misconduct is the responsibility of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The primary mission of this Section is to prosecute individual police officers under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242. These criminal statutes prohibit officials who are acting under color of law from willfully depriving individuals “of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” In this case, the government must prove that Officer Darren Wilson used excessive force against Brown during the apparent confrontation that the two had. If Wilson is convicted, the punishment can be extremely severe, including life in prison or the death penalty.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 11:25:46 +0000
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