…in actual courtroom practice, “objective reasonableness” has become nearly impossible to tell apart from the subjective snap judgments of panic-fueled police officers. American courts universally defer to the law enforcement officer’s own personal assessment of the threat at the time.
The Graham analysis essentially prohibits any second-guessing of the officer’s decision to use deadly force: no hindsight is permitted, and wide latitude is granted to the officer’s account of the situation, even if scientific evidence proves it to be mistaken…
Police demilitarization, the decriminalization of working-class people, new policing models: these are all projects that could work in Ferguson and thousands of other American cities. Although none of these large-scale ideas is explicitly race-conscious, they would most likely tighten the severe racial disparities in policing violence that exist all over the country, more so than pouring more money into racial sensitivity training for cops. (Changing residency requirements of municipal police officers to get a more ethnically representative force might help a little, though research shows that such requirements correlate with less confidence in the police, not more.)
These big-picture reforms are fundamentally political solutions that will require long-term effort, coalition politics that spans race, ethnicity and political affiliation—a challenge, but also a necessity. As police and prosecutors assume more and more power in the United States—regulating immigration (formerly a matter of administrative law), meting out school discipline, and other spheres of everyday life where criminal law was almost unknown even a generation ago—getting law enforcement on a tight leash is a national imperative. In the meantime, the constant stream of news reports of unarmed, mostly black and Latino civilians killed by police demands bigger, bolder approaches. They are the only available paths to getting the police under control.
I blinked one day and when I opened my eyes, it was normal to have an American army battling Americans on American streets. No one even calls it a war. But it is.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Mexico City on Thursday in one of the largest shows to date of public indignation over government corruption and the disappearance of 43 college students from the southern city of Iguala.
Demonstrators marched towards President Enrique Peña Nieto’s National Palace to protest his handling of the probable massacre. Hundreds of police in riot gear blocked access to the palace, where thousands of protesters gathered to demand justice for the students who disappeared on Sept. 26.Â
it sickens me how the media is tyring to make us feel symphaty for darren wilson “his life is practically over as he won’t be able to be a cop anymore” as if i fucking care about what happens to that disgusting murderer
bundle up, hardcore – it’s gonna be cold as fuck and it’s a LONG walk. lots of layers.
white ppl + nonblack poc – please do not overpower the black voices! you are there to support, NOT to make it about yourselves. remember, this is about black voices being heard. yelling shit like “ALL LIVES MATTER” detracts from the point and ruins the entire point of the protest in the first place. do not do anything violent to provoke the police becauseyou will not be the ones getting hurt/killed for it.
LemonGrenade 