I'm kind of proud of my Hometown rag's Ferguson Editorial ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

http://www.cleveland.com/darcy/index.ssf/2014/11/fergusons_prosecutorial_farce.html#incart_river

But then, I read the comments that followed ... I'm NOT proud of my hometown.

[jwirr]

1. I never read the comments. Mostly people like the trolls on DU. Irrelevant.

[oldandhappy]

2. Thank you for posting.

I never would have suspected a sane editorial!! I am not in the area and have only a slanted view since I only see what is on TV. I confess to ignorance of your home town. I am glad to see the editorial and you should be proud, and I am sending you hugs since you are obviously living in the middle of all this.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

3. one commenter was concerned that cops might not be willing to shoot black people at random anymore

[Little Star]

4. That really was a good editorial. Thanks for sharing.

[Spazito]

5. That's an excellent editorial...

quite thorough and I completely agree with this suggestion:

"Based on McCulloch's unusual handling of the grand jury, his comments in the press conference and what's been reveled in the released documents, the Justice Department should consider expanding their investigation to St. Louis County Prosecutors office."

As to the ugly, racist trolls, they may be from anywhere and, not unlike what happens on DU, one troll can establish many, many 'socks' so as to make it appear there is overwhelming support for a racist commenter where, in reality, there is not. Ignore them, they live very pitiful lives, eaten up by hate.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Wow

This gives us a lot of information about what might have motivated McCulloch. Just - wow. I'll skip the comments.

Attorney's for Michael Brown's family had substantial probable cause to formally request Nixon remove  McCulloch.     McCulloch's Father was tragically killed in the line of duty  by  black assailant.    McCulloch said he couldn't become a  policeman, so he became the "the next best thing" a prosecutor.    In over 20 years as Prosecutor he has never charged officers in a shooting.  Including a case where two unarmed men were killed after being shot 20 times.    McCulloch's relationship with the black community has been as cold a Buffalo. It only got colder in the last election where McCulloch was involved in two racially charged campaigns.

Living up to his controversial reputation, McColloch turned the normal grand jury process into a de facto trial of Michael Brown, minus the Judge, cross-examinations from opposing attorneys and public transparency.

Legal experts argued the McCulloch had the legal authority and ample probable cause to charge Wilson  without going to the grand jury.   He could have opted for a Judicial Hearing, that would have been a public proceeding.

A typical grand jury proceeding lasts no more than a day, often just hours. The Prosecutors office recommends an indictment and only presents a portion of the evidence that supports it.    The threshold for the jury is probable cause.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Yeah ...

amazing isn't it.

The outcome was determined at the point a special prosecutor wasn't assigned. Sad.

[longship]

7. Thankfully there are no comments on the iPhone version.

(At least none I saw upon a cursory scroll down.)

R&

[WillyT]

8. Excellent Editorial !!! - K & R !!!

[FLPanhandle]

10. The comments are less offensive than in my local newpaper and most national news sites.

I like that the author responds in the comments section. That takes guts. Most editors wouldn't dare.

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. Darcy had not responded when I read the piece ...

Based on the editorial AND his follow up responses ... Darcy, now, has a new Man-fan!

[JonLP24]

12. Since it is a national story

the comments section is probably drawing readers from all over the place.

Personally, I've had problems with grand juries for awhile and what made the use of the grand jury atypical -- they way it is commonly used is where my criticisms lie. First off, there are similar ironic criticisms in this case. There is no one to cross-examine the prosecutor, that is true in both cases. The rules for evidence are different, prosecutors are allowed to present illegally obtained evidence that can't be used in a real trial. Defendants aren't allowed to bring their own attorneys, it is rare they do testify since statements could be used at any time.

It was intended to be a check against the prosecutor but consider a prosecutor will choose to try or dismiss cases for whatever reason, mostly because they have a weak case. When they wouldn't normally seek charges but go the grand jury anyway that effects how they present their case but in any case the deck is stacked in their favor.

Take the Stewart race car driver grand jury. Clouded in secrecy like most, the only things that come out is the prosecutor himself claiming the guy Stewart ran over had enough THC in his system to impair "judgment" but wouldn't elaborate on how much so I looked at relevant New York law which considers any amount impairment (which is different than factual impairment). THat is an example of a DA who probably didn't want to pursue charges and when it comes to DA it is a political position so that often takes precedance over law & order.

Which highlights my biggest problem -- the secrecy and lack of transparency.

In this one -- http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/11/us/ferguson-grand-jury-docs/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I never seen a grand jury with so much available info before.

Also the irony that the prosecutor presented too many facts. If probable cause exists somewhere in there than blame the grand jury -- who btw already don't deal with the same screening, jury instructions, etc as in a regular trial.

To me it looks like a case of no good deed going unpunished.

If PC exists blame the grand jury but in all honestly, the Supreme Court, Missouri legislators, and state governments across the country have made things easier on police use of force. The statement in the article could also be written grand juries fail to indict cops for questionable shootings but police in Oakland & Houston kill unarmed people and hasn't been indicted for it. Even when they are, a jury rarely convicts.

Blame the grand jury or blame the politicians for the laws, I favor more body cameras which would discourage crossing the unlawful use of force line, but would also record what factually took place in-case of conflicting witness accounts.

[jtuck004]

13. "That's one big well armed 5 year old the Ferguson P.D. hired to police their city."

They got that right.

Their suggestion to expand the investigation to include the prosecutor sounds spot on.

[JDPriestly]

14. K&R.