Chauvinist Cops and the Just Is System that Enables Them
by John Kendall Hawkins
OR Books (April 2021)
Paperback / E-book: $13/10
Now that Derek Chauvin has closed out his defense of killing George Floyd by invoking his Constitutionally-protected right against self-incrimination -- the Fifth Amendment -- we who still care about such things can shake our heads at the farcical injustice that has framed this case, and all the other cases involving unnecessary police force protected by the Supreme Court's gift to fascists, known as Qualified Immunity.
Cops like Chauvin are vigilantes with badges, but without the white sheets. (Recall, if you will, that many of the folks under those KKK cloaks were 'respectable' members of the community -- cops, judges, smiths, bartends, etc.) They've been guaranteed that, if they snuff the life of a fellow citizen, they will get their day in court. With a virtual guarantee of getting off the charge if they can successfully invoke Qualified Immunity.
It's this stark contrast of legal entitlements, this notion that you're nothing at the hands of these flag-waving monsters, while they enjoy the privilege of protection, involving their Constitutional rights, that flat out rattles and enrages. And when you discover that there's no remedy -- that they can kill, steal your property, and piss on your cat -- and you can't pursue them criminally or civilly, and that little to no internal review of their actions will occur, then you have a right to wonder if America operates as a democracy under the rule of law anymore, and if it hasn't reached, after " a long train of abuses and usurpations," that place in the Preamble to the Declaration where it is our "right" and "duty" to "throw off such government."
In Above the Law: How "Qualified Immunity" Protects Violent Police, ice cream magnate and activist Ben Cohen serves up an unwaffling cone of Wiggly Piggly with baton-jimmies, taking its place somewhere between Cherry Garcia and Chips Happen. In 150 pages of well-selected spoon-sized samples of police abuse dipped in QI nuttery, and explanations of how police are gaming and shaming the Constitutional protections meant to make us all equal before the law. Because, when it comes right down to it, Cohen demonstrates, Qualified Immunity (QI) is not only evil as a police protection against 'frivolous lawsuits' but absurdly illogical -- circular Catch-22 "rules" apply that make it impossible to battle in court, and thus, a guarantee that QI abuses will continue, and, left unchecked, will foster the already fascist leanings of law enforcement in America.
Above the Law has multiple authors -- victims, cops and lawyers-- and is broken up into about 20 short chapters of incidents and anecdotes and court decisions and remedies. It's quick-paced, well-edited, and educational. The intelligent reader will find it cogent, reasonable and offering actions that can be supported or accomplished -- writing a letter to specific members of Congress to address QI, for instance. You can read the book in a couple of hours, get all fired up with principles, and get the letter off to Congress on the same day.
In the Foreword to Above the Law, rapper Michael Render ("Killer Mike") provides an excellent emotional overview of the events at hand. It's helpful to recall, with him, his reaction to hearing on the news the take-down of George Floyd, yet another Black man in America at the hands (and, in this case, the knee) of the police. Render remembers,
Looking back on that night, I know that a part of me wanted to watch the world burn, as well. A part of me wondered if it wouldn't be better than the alternative, of living in a world like this one, where every day it seems I am waking up to watch another Black person die.
Black or white, most non-MAGA Americans can relate to this sentiment. It shouldn't be happening in a democracy watched over by the rule of law that has been with us since the Magna Carta, and allowed humans to leave the Dark Ages behind and enter the Enlightenment. QI is a backslide.
QI is some crazy sh*t. You're not sure you even understand as you're reading about it, because you start thinking you must be mental when you just don't get it. That's the Catch-22 effect. There is no getting it. It's a gobbledygoo olio of legalese and illogic -- like some lampoon of lefty linguistics. With QI, you can only sue or convict a cop if you can prove a precedent had been set. As Ben Cohen writes,
Instead of considering whether a person's civil rights have been violated, courts shut their eyes to whether a crime has been committed and look only to see if there has been a past conviction of a police officer for doing the exact same thing. Otherwise, it gets thrown out of court.
But this is an impossible hurdle to get over for a plaintiff. Cohen continues,
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
