There remains plenty of time to flesh out all the supposedly cosmic meanings of the thrice-guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but here are my immediate thoughts.
* The judicial system worked. It usually does. It won’t bring George Floyd back, or eliminate all bad policing, but police are now on notice. And good cops still vastly outnumber bad ones. It’s time to refine and reform the policing system, not tear it down.
* Next will come the trials of the other three officers. I hope juries will make careful distinctions. The rookie (fourth day on job) who asked if Chauvin should lay off and check the pulse is clearly not as guilty of anything as serious. But there still appeared to be, at least, negligence by all. It will take careful parsing to determine the appropriate verdicts and punishments.
* Also still to come, surely, is an appeal by Chauvin. At first glance, I think the judge was wrong not to sequester the jury for the duration, but I do not think there are strong enough legal grounds for a new trial to be ordered.
* One of my Twitter followers, an always thoughtful guy named Frank, said it well here: “I’m sympathetic to folks in poor neighborhoods who have the idea that all cops are bad, and I’m sympathetic to cops who get smeared by the bad apples.” I would add, though, that while I am sympathetic to that “belief,” I am absolutely certain the belief is wrong. And I am disgusted by those who repeatedly push the idea that the “system” is so inherently biased that black people should distrust police in general. The good news is that most black people do not believe this, and polls consistently show black Americans want more police in their neighborhoods, not less.
* Police reforms should include severe restrictions on chokeholds, severe restrictions on warrantless raids and no-knock raids, much less use of (and better training in) old military equipment, restrictions on qualified immunity, better training in de-escalation tactics (especially for nonviolent offenders), and more. Also, there should be a concerted effort against over-criminalization of minor or unknowing offenses.
* Riots are never a justifiable tactic in a valid, free, constitutional republic, which the United States certainly is.
* Please, please, everybody, can we now ratchet down the temperature?
