Now more than a month after the first protests sparked by the deadly police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen stopped by a Ferguson police officer for jaywalking, the protest has evolved into a movement that remains strong.
This movement was given new legs by legal advocates at Arch City Defenders and the Saint Louis University School of Law, whose efforts calling attention to abuse, especially of low-income residents, by North County municipal courts helped produce sparkling investigative journalism by the Washington Post and others. Clear evidence that these municipalities use their police departments to harass and (in effect) tax the poor generated wide public support for the plight of low-income African Americans in North County, the grass roots of this protest movement. At a moment when we might be mired in debating the guilt or innocence of Officer Darren Wilson without unequivocal evidence to judge, instead we see a movement for social justice that is gaining momentum.
Some progress could be seen in the Ferguson City Council’s announcement of limited reforms of its municipal court policy in advance of Tuesday night’s council meeting, the first since the protest movement gave new momentum to legal advocates’ existing work to reform municipal courts. One legal advocate from the Saint Louis University School of Law said of the concessions, “The people did this,” even as he and his colleagues prepared to fight for more sweeping reform in Ferguson’s municipal courts and throughout the region. When a detailed, data-driven critique of flawed and abusive public policy gets a push from a protest movement, systemic change becomes a real possibility.
Ferguson also made a weak attempt to placate protestors with a toothless civilian review board, but here again the movement found itself strengthened by a sound policy framework. Behind the scenes in the protest movement are veteran activists who have pushed for police reform in the city of St. Louis for decades, and they have taught the young protestors what to demand in a civilian review board: financial and political independence, subpoena power and community representation. We expect much more substantial concessions from Ferguson government as the protest movement continues its push for justice.
The community also has a wild card in the Department of Justice’s probe into abusive patterns and practices in Ferguson and other municipalities, which has almost unlimited potential to reform police departments in the region. The St. Louis County Police Department – which also clearly needs reform, based on how Chief Jon Belmar handled the street protests in Ferguson – made its own proactive move in inviting federal officials to undertake a collaborative review of the department. Once again, the people’s determined action did this. Had the people not stood up – and stayed standing, despite a police response that had the force of the American military – these police departments would not be under federal scrutiny.
Michael Brown’s death must not be in vain. He and his family deserve justice, regardless of what systemic progress this young man’s death may ultimately bring. We certainly believe there is enough evidence to arrest Officer Darren Wilson and charge him with second-degree murder in the death of Michael Brown. Officer Wilson deserves his day in court – in open court, not behind the veil of a grand jury process being managed by a dubious operator like County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch. While policy reform and social justice gain momentum, criminal justice should get started with the arrest of Officer Wilson.
