Chauvin needs to get the OJ treatment: get him for everything he's got. If he wins the criminal trial, sue him civilly. If he writes a book about his crimes, have the Floyd family garnish any earnings from the book and take over rights to it. Never let this man see another day where the law isn't on his trail.
Let's make an example out of this pig.
This is never justified. Never. There is far more than a dime's worth of difference between justice and vengeance.
Chauvin should receive the penalties appropriate for the crimes he actually is convicted of. He should pay civil damages for the civil wrongs he is found to have committed. But he should only be charged with crimes for which there is probable cause. He should only be convicted if there is guilt established beyond a reasonable doubt; the verdict should not reflect meeting some lower standard such as a preponderance of evidence. If he is civilly sued, such a verdict should not reflect a desire to punish; it should reflect a preponderance of the evidence supporting his culpability and a preponderance of evidence supporting both Chauvin's fault and damages incurred.
Americans of all colors need to be told that they are NOT entitled to vengeance. They are entitled to Equal Justice under the Law, and that principle applies in the righting of wrongs (to the extent that the Legal System can actually do this). They are NOT entitled to charges that are not justified by Probable Cause being filed. They are not entitled to civil judgements that reflect a desire to punish without regard for actual negligence and actual damages. Such actions by prosecutors undermine the Rule of Law, the quality of our nation that puts it above all others in so many ways.
We "make examples" out of people at our own peril. It feels good to some to do this to Derek Chauvin. Would it actually BE a good thing to do so when that example is used against others whose notoriety is less unanimous?
Tell that to the Goldman family. They chased OJ into his own prison cell.
I'm not advocating any legal wrongdoing, quite the opposite. And frankly it's up to the Floyd family how they choose to proceed. Many victims' families choose to move on. But it's only reasonable to hold our
*clears throat* public servants more accountable when they abuse their positions of authority, which in this case they obviously did.
