Rare News Desk
What we’ve seen play out in Ferguson over the past few months, culminating with the rage and destruction last night, is the result of a system that does not work for the people in that community.
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Use of force laws protect police officers to an extent that, in the absence of convincing evidence and a forceful prosecution, Officer Darren Wilson was quite unlikely to have been convicted of a crime even if the grand jury had handed down any indictments last night.
But the problems in Ferguson go beyond one officer-involved shooting. From the altercation that left Michael Brown’s body in the street for four hours throughout this ordeal, law enforcement officials have lied, leaked, and obfuscated at seemingly every opportunity. The release of the shoplifting video under false pretense and implementation of bogus no-fly-zones for media helicopters were hallmarks of a law enforcement community circling the wagons around one of their own, regardless of his guilt or innocence.
The message from the police was clear: protecting Officer Darren Wilson was far more important than a functioning justice system, let alone holding anyone accountable for the death of Michael Brown.
The law enforcement apparatus in and around St. Louis County treated the citizenry with open contempt. In his press conference yesterday, St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch sounded more like a defense attorney for Wilson rather than a prosecutor who failed to get an indictment.
Simply put, the grand jury was a farce.
Defense lawyer and legal blogger Scott Greenfield explains McCulloch’s perversion of the grand jury’s role:
Had the prosecution desired an indictment against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, the presentment would have taken an hour, maybe two, and there would have been a true bill by close of business the next day, well before Michael Brown had been laid to rest. The grand jury isn’t the venue to present “all the evidence.” That’s what trials are for. The grand jury serves a very limited function, to determine whether sufficient evidence exists so that there is probable cause to proceed to trial.
In Ferguson, the grand jury served a very different purpose. It was the mechanism by which the guardians of the status quo protect the American dream of an orderly society, where the appearance of challenge is preserved so that lazy and ignorant Americans can sleep well at night, secure in the belief that their officials and institutions are doing the job of protecting their comfort against the unsavory and the malcontents.
This is the Ferguson Lie.
One needn’t condone the violence, mayhem, and destruction in Ferguson last night to understand the overwhelming frustration and anger at the blatant mishandling of this case and the ensuing protests.
In a legal environment like this, it is virtually impossible for people to flourish. The local governments failed Ferguson by repeatedly and unambiguously demonstrating that its residents cannot expect the equal protection of the laws.
The collapse of legal legitimacy doesn’t excuse riots, nor does it absolve rioters for their actions. But the police and prosecutors in St. Louis County, Missouri are responsible for the damage they have inflicted on the residents of Ferguson.
If there’s no respect for the Rule of Law in Ferguson, it’s because the government destroyed it.
