The more I read about the Grand Jury maneuver in Ferguson, the more I think it was wrong both in terms of fairness and the kind of openness that would show the public the process was fair. What they did was to turn the Grand Jury proceedings into a trial that excluded the family and advocates for Michael Brown and allowed Officer Wilson's testimony to go largely unchallenged. I'm not going to post a lot more about this but I would direct you to these articles…
- Shadow Trial by Dahlia Lithwick and Sonja West
- Everything the Darren Wilson Grand Jury Got Wrong by Paul Rosenberg
- St. Louis Prosecutor Bob McCulloch Abused the Grand Jury Process by Noam Scheiber
- Justice Scalia Explains What Was Wrong With The Ferguson Grand Jury by Judd Legum
And as I segue this blog back to happier topics, I leave you with the words of MSNBC analyst Lisa Bloom who kinda said what I said earlier…
The biggest thing that jumps out is prosecutors who aren't prosecuting — prosecutors who let the target of the investigation come in, in a very friendly, relaxed way, and simply tell the story. There is absolutely zero cross-examination. Cross-examination is the hallmark of our system, it's the crucible of truth. And I don't say that to use flowery language. That's how we get at the truth.
This whole thing smells. But I'm going to go back to sillier, happier subjects…