FERGUSON. In our hearts, are we surprised? Disgusted. Angry. But not surprised. I would have been bowled over had Wilson been indicted--a white cop who shot a black man in one of the most segregated cities in America. I hate to be a cynic, because I am generally a positive person. But it seems that the fix was in from the beginning for the grand jury decision. Of course it is partly about the jurys makeup. But it is also about the discretionary powers of the prosecutor in American jurisprudence. Nationwide, prosecutors maintain roughly a 95% success rate with grand juries--that is, they have very little trouble obtaining the indictments they want. Grand juries have been used both for good and nefarious ends--to break up the mafia, the Klan, neo-Nazis, Earth First, and corrupt state and local governments. But in the end, the grand jury is the tool of the state, and with few exceptions, no better or worse than the agent of that state whose job it is to seek indictment. Of course McCollough had no intention of letting an indictment go through, and he controlled the grand jury accordingly. Theres plenty of law in Ferguson tonight, but no justice.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 06:01:09 +0000
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