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Back to “Normal” in Baltimore
I have a new column up today over at PJ Media in which I maintain that the “return to normal” in Baltimore is not necessarily a thing to be celebrated. As is often the case, no sooner had I sent the piece off to my editor than I thought of something I should have added. In the column, I make the prediction that when the case has run its course none of the six officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray will stand convicted of even a single charge, and that they will prevail in a civil lawsuit against Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
Her case against the officers is feeble at best, but this does not mean the officers will have any easy time of things when they have their day in court. I have no doubt that in Baltimore there can be found any number of judges who, like Ms. Mosby, are more committed to the cause of “social justice” than to the impartial application of actual justice. Should the case come before one of these judges – and is there any doubt that Mosby will attempt to steer it that way? – the officers may find themselves in for a rough go. But, at some point along the way, the case will come before appellate judges at the state or federal level, men and women who, one must hope, will not abide Mosby’s campaign to use the courts as a vehicle for mob revenge.
As I say in the column, the riots in Baltimore haven’t ended, they’ve only been postponed.
Sadly, I think you are correct.
If you define a riot as a rebellion against the law, and what the prosecutor did as an offense against law … I’d say Baltimore has an ongoing quiet riot.
The whole civil structure, from cops to business to government to schools … and so on … is just not working here. (I live in a suburb of Baltimore.) This is an orchestra that makes noise, not music.
Excellent article and excellent post. Thank you.
Another reason to fear for the future of the Republic
Well said, Mr. Dunphy.
It would be purely amazing were significant numbers of BPD members to continue on the job. There appears to be no real reason to stay on, and all manner of logic to move and go somewhere that policing is more serious work and better appreciated by the populace.
Police work is undergoing real revision. Some things cops have come to consider routine will not be acceptable to the populace. At the top of that list will be some of the militaristic actions taken by various PD’s with only the slimist excuses. I expect some of the emphasis on “shoot first” in the academies will also change. But these will be mere “adjustments” to police tactics.
Far more important will (or at least should) be discussions of what police ought to be enforcing, and what laws ought to be on the books. Regardless of all the talk about the tactics used, the bottom line in Eric Garner’s death ought to be a serious discussion of why we have laws that force poor men like Garner to make some nickles and dimes selling “loosies”. ?Are police righteously to be used as revenue collectors. Recollect that the NYPD showed its displeasure with DeBlasio (righteous IMO) by stopping writing tickets!
And setting aside all the above, it is truth that what happened in Baltimore, and what happened to those cops is a travesty.
Mosby is another socially-promoted minority whose finely tuned sense of grievance supercedes any purely academic standards that she was taught in college. In addition her education has given her a vocabulary with which she can express her resentment and insecurity.
Sound familiar?
Ah, I can see it now….
Time Magazine Woman of the Year Runner-up (to you-know-who) Maryland State A. G. Marilyn Mosby
One of Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year – Marilyn Mosby
BET Image Award winner Marilyn Mosby
Lawyers’ Guild Winner of the Anita Hill Award – Marilyn Mosby
The Kennedy Center Honoree Marilyn Mosby
Commencement Speaker (multiple invitations) Marilyn Mosby
Governor Mosby (D-MD)
Senator Mosby (D-MD)
#1 Crips & Bloods fan – Marilyn Mosby
It’s too hard to punish rogue prosecutors. Prosecutors should get the same scrutiny the police do.
Just as an addendum, it appears a couple cops were shot in Mississippi while on a routine traffic stop. Both were wounded but succumbed to their wounds in the hospital. One black, one white officer.
I am satisfied to let Baltimore deal with its issues. One one hand if Baltimore is too hard on its police, that will create issues with law enforcement in the future. On the other, if the city’s population is rioting there is no order.
It is apparent to me that there was a rush to file charges to quell the rioting. I hope that does not backfire if the case gets thrown out.