Ferguson and Zero Tolerance

Zero Tolerance: A grand jury on Monday declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of 18 year old Michael Brown. It took months for the grand jury to contemplate this decision. It took St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch too long to actually announce the decision. It seemed clear that there would be no indictment since the grand jury took way too long to make their decision.

So, now there will be no state charges against the officer. And, if a grand jury cannot indict, any type of civil suit will fail as well. So, what does that leave as a recourse in this particular case? The Department of Justice? Will they intervene? That did work for the Rodney King case, but there are many examples where it did not.

So, where do we go from here?

Dan Conaway states, “The criminal laws in our country need to be enforced by thikning, well-trained law enforcement officers utilizing their street smarts and common sense to create a safe and tolerant society for all Americans. Our civil liberties and our safety are most gravely imperiled if we as American citizens insist that our streets be patrolled by law enforcement officers transformed into mindless, intolerant arresting machines, hamstrung and made brain dead bythe soulless manifesto of zero tolerance. We have the power to create the kind of criminal justice system we want, but before you decide what you want, take a long look in the mirror and realize that in a land of zero tolerance policing tactics, you may just be the next victim.” (Dan Conaway Arrested: Battling America’s Criminal Justice System p. 94)

For other blog entries on zero tolerance, see here