Ferguson

I've stayed away from attempting to understand what happened in Ferguson, Missouri. The entire incident is racially tinged and incredibly traumatic for that community. The incident is another example why a race remains a problem in our society. As the case drew on, I started to look at it from a legal perspective.

The science apparently has spoken which gave officer Wilson the path to self-defense. While there are witnesses in conflict apparently the science corroborates the contention that Michael Brown was the aggressor and officer Wilson had no alternative but to respond using deadly force.

It is unfortunate that the entirety of the situation has been impugned by the systemic breakdown of the criminal justice system. In nearly every step of the process, the police, the mayor, the prosecutor, the governor all did their part to corrupt the process. This isn't to say that every officer is bad, I do not honestly believe that. But when you have the likes of officer Wilson who apparently has a past that could be racially provocative then we are left with a great deal of uncertainty with the performance of someone who is supposed to uphold the laws of land.

But what transpired on the grand jury panel can almost be deduced as being criminally negligent. Never in the history of the grand jury process has a defendant been entitled to defend themselves by testimony or statement on their behalf to determine if charges were to be levied against them. Even Anton Scalia agrees ... http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/11/26/3597322/justice-scalia-explains-what-was-wrong-with-the-ferguson-grand-jury/

 The grand jury in Ferguson was allowed to hear the officers testimony and to take that into consideration and their deliberation. The prosecutor not just fumbled the process but did everything he could to protect the officer.

The entire grand jury process was a farce and a waste of time. The prosecutor did everything they could to ensure that the officer would not be charged while at the same time appeasing the civil unrest of Ferguson by going through this process. Instead of recusing himself and being replaced by a special prosecutor, he was adamant to remain on the case

Is there any wonder why the African-American community would be upset by this?

This is an egregious travesty of justice when the process is tainted and heavily biased from the onset. Anyone who is interested in trying to figure out why there is a race disparity in this country only needs to examine what happened in Ferguson as being a clear indicator for a broken system.