Maritime law enforcement training center

Defense lawyers have a saying: “If the law is against you, pound on the facts; if the facts are against you, pound on the table.” For military defense lawyers, there is a slight modification: “Before you pound on the table, pound on the chain of command.” Why? Because in the military, leaders are accountable for the failures of their subordinates and military juries are the harshest critics of their colleagues whose leadership failures contribute to misconduct. Indeed, the Vanessa Guillen disappearance at Fort Hood, Texas, and its subsequent fallout, is a prime and recent example of how failures at low levels of the military result in accountability at high levels. With all the public attention focused on police reforms, as a former military officer and lawyer I find it perplexing why leadership accountability is not the central focus of this dialogue. How did a former police officer such as Derek Chauvin get to the point where he felt it was appropriate, as the prosecutor in … [Read more...] about Leadership and accountability: A military lesson for police reform

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) had a police escort while traveling to Minnesota, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow, author of Breaking the News: Exposing the Establishment Media’s Hidden Deals and Secret Corruption . Saturday at a police station in Brooklyn Center, MN, Waters told demonstrators protesting against the police killing of Daunte Wright that they should “get more confrontational” if the jury in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin does not render a “guilty verdict” for “murder.” “Well, we’ve got to stay on the street,” Waters replied when asked what protesters should do if a guilty verdict is not rendered against Chauvin. “And we’ve got to get more active. We’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.” Protests in Brooklyn Center included violence, riots, and looting. Dozens have been arrested. Blackburn said, “[Waters] had a … [Read more...] about Exclusive — Sen. Marsha Blackburn: Rep. Maxine Waters ‘Had a Police Escort Take Her to Minnesota to Call for Confrontation’

Van Jones is an attorney who has spent 25 years working for police accountability and criminal justice reform. He is the co-founder of three criminal justice organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Dream Corps JUSTICE (formerly #cut50) and the REFORM Alliance. In 1998, he won the Reebok International Human Rights Award for his work against unlawful police violence. In 2018, he helped pass the First Step Act. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. (CNN) America is bracing for a verdict . After watching footage of a police officer applying brutal force against a man who was handcuffed, crying out for his mother and begging for his life, will the jury find former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd? Or will jurors doubt that Chauvin's actions were a major cause of Floyd's death and let the officer go free? And what will happen after the verdict? America desperately … [Read more...] about Jury is out — no matter the verdict, Congress must act

Officials in the U.S. and overseas are voicing wide support for a white police officer’s murder conviction Tuesday in the death last year of a Black man, George Floyd, with President Joe Biden calling it a “much too rare” outcome in contentious confrontations between white police and minority suspects. Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris praised the decision hours after a racially diverse jury in Minneapolis convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of two types of murder and manslaughter. Minutes later, he was handcuffed and jailed and now faces years in prison, when he is sentenced in eight weeks. Biden, who phoned Floyd’s family after the verdict, called it “a step forward,” but all too rare moment of justice. Studies have shown that in most such U.S. cases, police are either cleared of wrongdoing without charges or acquitted in trials. Biden said systemic racism in the U.S. is a “stain on our nation’s soul,” while saying the verdict “can be a giant step forward in … [Read more...] about Broad Support Expressed for Chauvin Conviction in George Floyd Murder Trial

Officials in the U.S. and overseas are voicing wide support for a white police officer’s murder conviction Tuesday in the death last year of a Black man, George Floyd, with President Joe Biden calling it a “much too rare” outcome in contentious confrontations between white police and minority suspects. Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris praised the decision hours after a racially diverse jury in Minneapolis convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of two types of murder and manslaughter. Minutes later, he was handcuffed and jailed and now faces years in prison, when he is sentenced in eight weeks. Biden, who phoned Floyd’s family after the verdict, called it “a step forward,” but all too rare moment of justice. Studies have shown that in most such U.S. cases, police are either cleared of wrongdoing without charges or acquitted in trials. Biden said systemic racism in the U.S. is a “stain on our nation’s soul,” while saying the verdict “can be a giant step forward in … [Read more...] about Wide Support for Chauvin Conviction in George Floyd Murder