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Commentaries/Opinions

Convicting Darren Wilson Will Be Basically Impossible 

By Commentaries/Opinions

On Wednesday, amid continued protests demanding “Justice for Michael Brown” prosecutors will bring evidence before a grand jury as they determine whether to indict Brown’s killer, Officer Darren Wilson. The power to indict rests with local prosecutors and pliant grand juries, and as Jonathan Cohn has pointed out, a prosecutor will usually refrain from indicting altogether if the accused faces a low likelihood of conviction. In this case, a combination of entrenched racial and occupational biases, and most importantly the details of Missouri law, all but ensures that a conviction is off the table.

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The Fire This Time

By Commentaries/Opinions

I remember the stunned reaction of so many Americans back in the summer of 2005 when legions of poor black people in desperate circumstances seemed to have suddenly and inexplicably materialized in New Orleans during the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina.

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