One year ago this week, Eric Garner was killed by the excessive of New York City Police Department. Video of the incident shows New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo executing a chokehold on Garner despite the victim's cries for mercy. Instead of trying the officer as a violent offender, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer issued a check to Garner's grieving family for $5.9 million. This was the price fit for murder. In Stringer’s words it was, "in the best interests of all parties." With the system doing its best to push this event under the rug, there has been no admission of liability.
For Garner's family, the state buyoff does not even approach equal justice. While they have adamantly stayed by their belief that violence will not bring justice to their sons murder, they wish to see Pantaleo indicted for his role in the murder. They want equal representation in a trial that would right the wrongs of this skewed system. Last Tuesday, the Garner family gathered for a press conference and called upon Attorney General Loretta Lynch to deliver justice in the form of criminal justice.
The natural response in an event where one person died at the hands of another would be the immediate demand of criminal charges brought upon by the perpetrator. Criminal liability, however, is reserved for specific fact patterns defined as criminal by state or federal laws. In the case of Eric Garner’s murder the state deemed the case a civil suit rather than a criminal act.
Criminal liability would be best exemplified in the case of an individual robbing a bank, or stealing a car. Yet most crimes occur person to person where one is wronged by another-- as in a car accident. In this case the offending party is not held criminally responsible. Rather, they face civil liability.
Civil courts in the United States do not issue prison sentences. Their jurisdiction is restricted to financial supplement to the victim. In the case of Eric Garner the considerable sum of money given was to hinder the case from facing a civil jury. This is considered "justice" according to our American civil court system.
It is not hard to imagine that Eric Garner's family doesn't feel this way. "This is not victory," Eric Garner's mother said in the same press conference. "Victory will come when we get justice." Like most families aggrieved by the loss of a loved one, they have found that a check, no matter how large, offers little consolation.
One can sympathize with the family's frustration that a grand jury failed to indict Pantaleo. However, the other side of the argument goes deeper than the evidence presented to the public. The grand jury has viewed countless videos from all sorts of angles and heard from over 50 witnesses. The jurors understand more than anyone else the full context of what happened. They were instructed on the law, and it was the jury who determined there was not criminal liability.
The criminal justice system works on the premise that unless a jury is convinced of an individual's guilt, unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt, a crime was not committed. The criminal standard is a stark contrast to the civil jury's standard. A civil jury holds a person responsible under what's called a preponderance of the evidence standard. That being; the little proof is necessary and the victimised party must only persuade the jury that the ends occurred no matter by what means they may have occurred.
The Garner family has now called for a federal investigation. Yet, despite the attorney general’s intervention many legislators believe the investigation is likely to reach the same conclusion as the grand jury. It's possible the investigation may find Eric Garner's civil rights were violated, and while that's not a murder conviction, it could offer some sense of justice.
But what is justice in this case? What positives if any can the public take from this senseless murder? There is nothing that will bring Eric Garner back to his family. His children will never spend another Christmas with their father. Real justicepertaining to this case will only come if there is significant reform.
Justice will come when police officers think twice about how they use force, when the cops who don't deserve to wear the badge are removed and those who do deserve it are paid well, trained well and have regained the trust we placed in them. No more will we tolerate undereducated brutes carrying out personal vendettas at the expense of innocent citizens.
Justice will come when law enforcement agencies receive funding they need to apply to fostering community-based policing. Justice for Eric Garner will come when our justice system finds a way to reverse the racial inequities that plague it from bottom to top.
One year later the city of New York stands by their belief that they did the right thing by negotiating the $5.9 million settlement with Garner's family. Nevertheless that payout won't represent justice unless the city backs it with real efforts to ensure future law enforcement does not repeat the mistakes that led to Garner's death.
