Jeffery Epstein Didn't Kill Himself. But Maybe George Floyd Did.

 

No peace, no justice.

I hold to the principle that we should not second-guess the judicial process. It is there to settle disputes; social cohesion requires us to respect it. If a court declares a defendant not guilty, we owe it to him or her, to our neighbours, and ultimately to ourselves, to accept that and move on.

However, I believe the judgement in the Chauvin trial is wrong. I believe this precisely because the rules were not followed here. I expect it to be appealed and overturned. There was obvious public pressure on the jurors to return a guilty verdict. Their verdict was under duress, and so, just as with a contract signed under duress, it is not valid. It was equivalent to a lynching.

The jurors had every reason to fear that, if they returned a verdict of not guilty, their city would be burned down. Maxine Waters had called for violence if a guilty verdict was not returned. Joe Biden had come close to demanding a guilty verdict. They had every reason to fear their own homes might be burned down, themselves or their family attacked, perhaps killed.

Under the circumstances, Chauvin could not get a fair trial. By the rules, if a fair trial cannot be conducted, he must be assumed to be innocent.

I do personally doubt his guilt. No reasonable man with normal instincts for self-preservation would murder another person slowly in plain sight of many witnesses holding video cameras. Hence, any reasonable man must doubt Chauvin’s guilt. 

Some have actually argued that it was worth sacrificing Chauvin’s chance for a fair trial to the greater good—to retain civil peace and avoid more rioting.

This is folly. It will only lead to worse rioting, as the mob realizes they can impose their will by rioting. And it will ensure that police stop doing anything about it—not worth the risk of death on the spot or a lynching if there is any confrontation. Perfect recipe for chaos.

A better approach would be to go in the opposite direction: free Chauvin immediately, and legislate full immunity for police from any murder or manslaughter charge if any suspect resists arrest. This would cause no risk to the public from police brutality: it is simple enough to cooperate during an arrest, and presumably the police would have to prove resistance with body cam footage. Resisting arrest is, moreover, refusing the protection of the justice system. Your call.

Something like this might even be necessary, under these circumstances, to restore order.