[OccupyCU] The family of Michael Brown should take their own steps to ensure justice

[David Johnson via OccupyCU]

"Attorney General Holder has visited Ferguson, including meeting with 
Michael Brown's family.  Attorney General Holder has promised to do all 
he can to ensure justice in the case saying 
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202667191136/Eric-Holders-DOJ-Takes-On-Police-Departments-Officers#ixzz3B9TgCVXS> 
"the full resources of the Department of Justice are being committed to 
our federal civil rights investigation into the death of Michael Brown."

Holder's record on police abuse is mixed. Under Holder the Department of 
Justice "has filed a record number of criminal police-misconduct cases 
and aggressively used civil laws to force reform at police departments 
across the country" according to the National Law Journal. 
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202667191136/Eric-Holders-DOJ-Takes-On-Police-Departments-Officers#ixzz3B9TJzJlQ> 
  But, his record as the chief prosecutor for Washington, DC is not 
hopeful for those who want justice against police violence. USA Today 
reports 
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/08/20/ferguson-holder-investigation-police-shooting-column/14332185/>:

"As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1993 to 1997 
<http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/12207/placeholder>, Holder 
was in charge of policing the local police. When police violence 
spiraled out of control, he did little to protect Washington residents 
from rampaging lawmen.

"The number of killings by Washington police doubled between 1988 and 
1995 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/march99/holder11.htm>, 
the year 16 civilians died due to police gunfire. Washington police shot 
and killed people at a higher rate than any other major city police 
department, as a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post investigation 
revealed in late 1998. The Post reported that 'Holder said he did not 
detect a pattern of problematic police shootings 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/march99/holder11.htm> and 
could not recall the specifics of cases he personally reviewed.' Holder 
declared: 'I can't honestly say I saw anything that was excessive.'"

"There was such a dearth of oversight from Holder's office that 
Washington police failed to count almost a third of the people killed by 
their officers between 1994 and 1997. Even when police review boards 
ruled 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/march99/holder11.htm> that 
shootings were unjustified or found contradictions in officers' 
testimony, police were not prosecuted. In one case, a police officer 
shot a suspect four times in the back when he was unarmed and lying on 
the ground. But Holder's office never bothered interviewing the shooter."

The family should not wait until the grand jury decision or rely 
completely on the US Department of Justice. The family of Michael Brown 
should take their own steps to ensure justice for their son as quickly 
as possible. The avenue the family can pursue is to file a civil suit in 
federal court.  Such litigation will allow the family to seek all 
relevant documents, including the unreleased police report, as well as 
videotapes related to the killing of Michael Brown. It will also allow 
them to question witnesses under oath, including police officers who 
arrived at the scene. The court hearings in a civil suit will be public 
so everyone can see all the evidence.

Waiting for a rigged grand jury system that favors the prosecutors, who 
work hand in glove with the police; or waiting for a slow Department of 
Justice investigation whose leader has a mixed record on police abuse, 
is waiting for injustice when the family can act now to ensure justice 
for Michael Brown."

/Kevin Zeese is an organizer with Popular Resistance 
<http://www.popularresistance.org/> and the Attorney General for the 
Green Shadow Cabinet <http://greenshadowcabinet.us/member-profile/7533>./


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