http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/25/1354141/-Guardian-DoJ-may-use-color-of-law-statute-in-Brown-Garner-Crawford-Hamilton-cases?detail=email
The families of at least four unarmed black men killed this year by police are pinning their hopes on possible federal prosecutions under a little-known civil rights statute that has only occasionally been used to indict officers in such cases.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI and local US attorneys’ offices have for weeks been examining the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and John Crawford III – all of whom were killed by police officers who grand juries later decided not to indict on state criminal charges.
Late on Monday, the DOJ announced it would review a fourth death: that of Dontre Hamilton, who was shot 14 times by a police officer following a confrontation in a park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in April.
The review was launched after the Milwaukee district attorney announced that Christopher Manney – the police officer who shot Hamilton, and who has since been fired – will not face charges.
In all four cases, federal officials are considering whether there is sufficient evidence to bring charges under a section of the US code that prohibits public officials from depriving an individual of constitutional rights under “color of law”…Per the Guardian story, “Police officers, prison guards, judges and care providers at public health facilities can all be prosecuted under this law,” a/k/a title 18, part I, chapter 13, section 242 of the US code, “more commonly known as the ‘color of law’ statute.”
However, today’s Guardian piece did make a point of focusing upon the fact that prosecutions of police shootings under this statute are “rare.”
Yet, in the same story, readers are reminded, “One notable exception was the federal prosecution of five New Orleans police officers over the shooting of unarmed people on Danziger bridge following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, two of whom died. The officers were convicted but later acquitted by a federal judge who ordered a retrial.”
Vice reporter Natasha Lennard noted on Christmas Day…
…the statue has "only occasionally" been used to indict officers in shooting and brutality cases. Notably, the LAPD officers who brutalized Rodney King were acquitted on state charges but later convicted under the federal statute for violating his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable arrest and depriving him of his 14th Amendment due-process rights.
there maybe hope for justice after all, if they can get convictions with this law it could help draw down the number of dead Black Americans at the hands of those who take those lives with the impunity of centuries of getting away with it and the law that be on their side, you might think twice before pulling a trigger 14 times if you know without a doubt you are accountable alone.
In the cases currently under consideration, federal prosecutors would have to show that the officers involved "acted with the specific intent to use more force than was reasonably necessary under the circumstances," as American University law professor William Yeoman's told the Guardian. Yeomans noted that it is "very rare" that deprivation of rights under the color of law in police in shootings is proven.
While the federal investigations specifically address whether the individuals' civil rights were violated, the impetus for prosecution under color of law cannot be racially driven. While Brown, Crawford, Garner, and Hamilton's deaths have all raised urgent questions of racism in US policing, the already unlikely federal charges would have to be brought without reference to race. In the King case, as political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson has pointed out on the Huffington Post, "There would have been absolutely no chance to bring, let alone get, convictions of the officers if there had been even the remotest public hint that race was the sole reason for the federal prosecution. The Justice Department had to bring, argue and try to win their convictions exclusively on the evidence and testimony that the cops violated the federal statutes in beating King."
Hutchinson argued that the same considerations applied to the King case should equally concern the Mike Brown shooting in Ferguson and should thus lead to federal charges against former cop Darren Wilson. "Brown as was King was unarmed. Brown and King were not charged with a crime when detained. Brown as King received injuries after he ceased resisting. Brown as King was abused during an official stop. These, as they were with King, are compelling civil rights violations," he wrote…
Of course, and as the Guardian story also pointed out, it’ll be many months or years before “…the federal inquiries come to any conclusions.”
i may have gotten a little ahead of the reality although it shows promise of justice the article states we could be staring at "just us" for more years to come. i do believe that we will get their i hope that it prevails. keep in mind some go kicking and screaming others not at all who you vote for determines that dynamic. recognize
