By D.Large
Mr. Reuland, in your article entitled "No Injustice in Shem Walker Delay", I disagree with your opinion that prosecutorial abuses do not exist in the D.A.'s office when evaluating the merits of pursuing criminal charges and convictions against police officers in unarmed shootings of minorities. I understand your perspective because you are a white, middle class professional who has more in common culturally with prosecutors and judges than with the majority of the indigent defenders you prosecute; who are minority, poor and of a different social and economic class than yourself.
Finding justice, which is captive to public opinions, bureaucratic policies and self-serving political objectives, becomes even more difficult when the administration of the law becomes tainted and perverted by virtually unlimited authority in the DA's office to work towards exonerating the police instead of seeking justice for the public.
Mr. Reuland you stated, "There is, in theory, an arbiter of who’s right: the criminal justice system and its steward, the district attorney."
The prosecutor's office is not the final arbiter of justice in the criminal justice system. To the contrary, the office should in fact be a facilitator in achieving justice, not just in seeking convictions for its own self-serving purpose. But history has shown that the office uses its wide latitude of discretion to decide if a police officer should be prosecuted and charged, and the decision is impacted by the preferential treatment police officers are accorded over other defendants. Then justice becomes subverted. In the majority of these shootings police walk away unscathed by their criminal actions due to the lack of willingness for prosecutors to search for the truth.
The most poignant example of this abuse is the continued failure of most District Attorneys around the country to even convene a grand jury to hear the facts and evidence in these cases. You find it disturbing that undisputed facts in these cases many times divide people into camps with their impartial views based on race (I assume your reference was to minorities), and those who view what happened as you term (a misunderstanding), the predominant opinion of most white people viewing these cases. Juries should be the arbiters of fact, not public opinion. But aside from the influences of the community, the more troubling matter is that most prosecutors have their own personal agenda, which in most of these police shootings dictates no attention to justice for minorities. It certainly looks more advantageous both publicly and politically to lock up criminals instead of the police.
Mr. Reuland your remark regarding the prosecutors' disregard for prosecuting adultery laws shows your own contempt and melancholy for the serious nature of unarmed victims being gunned down by police. Yes, adultery is still on the books, and prosecuting police for shooting unarmed minorities is ignored just like adultery. Prosecutors have increasingly realized that prosecutions for adultery have had little practical effect in safeguarding the community morals.
But I would remind you that prosecuting a cop for an unjustified killing of an unarmed civilian protects not only the community but sends a greater message to police that their immoral criminal actions will not be tolerated in society. But that is of no consequence because most prosecutors make the conscious decision against investigating police criminal actions for fear of jeopardizing or alienating the cozy non-adversarial relationship that exists between the prosecutor's office and the police. It's just not politically expedient.
Finally Mr. Reuland, you stated, "I see no crime in the death of Shem Walker."
Finally Mr. Reuland, you stated, "I see no crime in the death of Shem Walker."
I can understand your position in light of the fact that you have only read the newspapers and have already predisposed yourself to judging the merits of the case based on those readings. From your standpoint it was only an unfortunate misunderstanding that escalated into the circumstances that led Mr. Walker's death.
Mr. Reuland we don't try cases in the newspapers, and given your attitude these cases wouldn't make it to court.
I would suggest that you go and tell the families of unarmed victims, who are devastated by the loss of their loved ones, that it was all a misunderstanding.
I would suggest that you go and tell the families of unarmed victims, who are devastated by the loss of their loved ones, that it was all a misunderstanding.
www.policeshootminorities.com
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