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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTamir Rice and Laquan McDonald Avenged at the Ballot Box
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/35806-tamir-rice-and-laquan-mcdonald-avenged-at-the-ballot-boxTheir names never appeared on a ballot, but two black boys dashed the re-election hopes of two district attorneys and continue to influence state contests in the Democratic presidential primaryfrom their graves.
Tamir Rice and Laquan McDonald were killed by police officers but, despite both incidences being captured on videotape, many believe justice was delayed and ultimately denied. How prosecutors chose to handle the ensuing investigationsone in Cleveland, the other in Chicago sparked widespread demonstrations and likely sealed the fates of two elected officials in the March 15 primaries.
Anita Alvarez, states attorney for Cook County, Illinois since 2008, and Cuyahoga County, Ohio prosecutor Tim McGinty, who first took office in 2013, both lost handily to primary challengers. Many believe the election results should send a clear signal to prosecutors around the country, the vast majority of whom are re-elected with no meaningful opposition. Once in office, a district attorney can typically expect to retire from the job unless they decide to move on.
It was a huge win for activists, said Ben Wikler, the Washington director for MoveOn.org. About 95 percent of prosecutors run for re-election unopposed.
Gothmog
(144,876 posts)Jitter65
(3,089 posts)People are waking up
Igel
(35,268 posts)What the people want in terms of justice, they have to provide.
Judge Lynch would be gleeful. It's how he worked. Trying Tories, mind you, not right-minded Americans, so I guess that was okay.
Of course, if the lame judges don't do their duty and democratize justice, we can always revert to the tried and true democratic form of justice as espoused by the venerable Judge Lynch of the Old Dominion State.
You get together your demos, go to the jail, remove the miscreant, and sentence and punish him on the spot. Judge Lynch gave his name to that form of democracy. Another popular name given to such activities was "necktie party."
It pays to remember that the Tulsa riots happened as a group of people wanted precisely such justice. The police and the judge involved said "no" to popular justice. They went with the laws as they were written, not what activists wanted. Almost managed to avoid problems a couple of times, but hot heads on both sides wanted what played out. I guess.
In the usual pit-and-the-pendulum scenario, the axe swings both ways and it pays to remember that.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Good to hear
KelleyKramer
(8,892 posts)No wonder there are so many corrupt prosecutors.. they are very rarely held accountable