For many years the police have used excessive force against African Americans without the fear of recrimination. Now that era might be coming to an end. The state’s attorney for Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, recently obtained a grand jury indictment against the six police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray who was in their custody. With so many protests against police violence across the nation, these indictments might ignite a change in the public attitude of many whites who have been willing to protect the inviolability of the police.
The district attorney in St. Louis County, Mo. was unable to get an indictment for the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Mo. police officer; the Staten Island, N.Y. district attorney failed to indict a policeman for killing Eric Garner with an unlawful choke hold. In both of those cases, death resulted from the use of lethal force. In the Freddie Gray case, death resulted from negligence and callous disregard for the prisoner’s safety.
Mosby has boldly breached the code that requires prosecutors to excuse police misconduct, but she also has established a higher standard of care for those who are arrested. It is unlikely that police and prosecutors in jurisdictions outside of Baltimore will accept Mosby’s ruling as precedent; however, protestors are now advised to push for higher standards everywhere.
