Karl Frederick
12-11-2014, 11:17 AM
I find worthwhile food for thought in an article at www.slate.com (https://www.slate.com) which discusses Paul MacMahon's recommendation to use the non-judicial inquest process to fact-find after an unusual (particularly, officer-involved) killing:
"How do we resolve this disjoint between a binary system that sees things only in black and white and the public’s need for an honest investigation of the shades of gray in between? One little-discussed option comes from Paul MacMahon, a law professor at the London School of Economics. He argues in a forthcoming Yale Law & Policy Review (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2530526) article that the solution may be an inquest, a quasi-judicial proceeding with medieval roots that has largely fallen by the wayside in the United States. Inquests—which are still common in England and Ireland—are called in the aftermath of an unexpected or unusual death. Typically, a jury, with the help of a judge or coroner, seeks to establish the facts of the case but, importantly, has no legal authority to indict or convict. Think of this as akin to a civilian review board (https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0911-ferguson-review-board-20140912-story.html), but with more power, a clearer task, and an actual platform to make sure its conclusions are heard."
https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/michael_brown_darren_wilson_inquest_a_better_way_to_pursue_justice_when.html
"How do we resolve this disjoint between a binary system that sees things only in black and white and the public’s need for an honest investigation of the shades of gray in between? One little-discussed option comes from Paul MacMahon, a law professor at the London School of Economics. He argues in a forthcoming Yale Law & Policy Review (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2530526) article that the solution may be an inquest, a quasi-judicial proceeding with medieval roots that has largely fallen by the wayside in the United States. Inquests—which are still common in England and Ireland—are called in the aftermath of an unexpected or unusual death. Typically, a jury, with the help of a judge or coroner, seeks to establish the facts of the case but, importantly, has no legal authority to indict or convict. Think of this as akin to a civilian review board (https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0911-ferguson-review-board-20140912-story.html), but with more power, a clearer task, and an actual platform to make sure its conclusions are heard."
https://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/michael_brown_darren_wilson_inquest_a_better_way_to_pursue_justice_when.html