Guilty verdict seen as first step toward police reform

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The guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial came as a relief to millions across the country, as the justice so many Americans marched for over the past year finally came. But that relief was tempered by the acknowledgment that the ongoing pursuit of police accountability and reform likely won't get any easier. It's been a hard-fought battle getting to this point, and few cases are as open-and-shut as the Chauvin case was. Further, there are and will continue to be powerful forces of resistance to change, as well as many uncomfortable questions we must deal with as a society to determine what change even looks like. Nevertheless, the verdict yesterday must be regarded as a step in the right direction. We'll take it. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

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** 'This can be a moment of significant change'
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A Minnesota jury yesterday found former Minneapolis Police Ofc. Derek Chauvin guilty of second- and third-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last May. The verdict was met with relief across the country as well as reminders that the fight for increased accountability continues. "A measure of justice isn't the same as equal justice," Vice President Kamala Harris said last night. "We still must reform the system." President Biden said the verdict "can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America." He added, "We can't stop here." —CBS News ([link removed])
* — DOJ opens case. The Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced this morning. The DOJ was already investigating whether Chauvin and the other officers involved in Floyd's death violated his civil rights. The new investigation is known as a "pattern or practice"—examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing in the city. —Associated Press ([link removed])
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* — One trial down, one to go. With the Chauvin case behind them, prosecutors will now turn their attention to the three other officers who took part in the fatal arrest. Former officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, all of whom were fired and arrested days after Floyd died last May, face charges at a trial on Aug. 23 that they aided and abetted second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of Floyd. —Reuters ([link removed])
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* — No censure for Waters. House Democrats defeated a resolution brought by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to censure Rep. Maxine Waters for comments she made in Minnesota over the weekend that protesters should "get more confrontational" if Chauvin were acquitted. The House vote came yesterday, ahead of the announcement of the verdict. —NPR ([link removed])

MORE: Ohio police officer shot and killed a Black teenage girl holding a knife, police say and bodycam video shows —CNN ([link removed])


** Graham: Still a long way to go
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"Derek Chauvin's conviction is an important instance of accountability, and will come as a relief to the millions of people outraged by George Floyd's death, but it doesn't make for much of a model. Police leaders don't usually feel such a need to make an example of an officer, and they don't typically testify so bluntly against a former officer. There isn't always video evidence so clear and compelling. Despite all of these factors, prosecutors still felt the need to portray their case as pro-law enforcement. If all of this is necessary to convict a former officer, convictions will remain rare—and reform will have to take place outside the courts." —David Graham in ([link removed]) The Atlantic ([link removed])

David Graham is a staff writer at
The Atlantic.

MORE: Cathy Young: Cops, crime, and race —Arc Digital ([link removed])


** Voting rights hearing centers on Georgia
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Yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on voting rights, entitled "Jim Crow 2021: The Latest Assault on the Right to Vote," featured seven panelists, four of whom hailed from Georgia, where new voting laws have been widely slammed as restrictive and racist. Republican State Rep. Jan Jones testified that the goal of the laws is not to make it harder for certain people to vote but to make it "easier to vote and harder to cheat." Emory University professor Carol Anderson countered, "The lie of massive rampant voter fraud is serving the same function today as it did during the rise of Jim Crow. It stokes fear in a segment of the population that democracy is in peril, and, thus, provides cover for laws that target Black voters with race-neutral language." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed])

MORE: Georgia faith leaders call for nationwide boycott of Home Depot over response to voting law —ABC News ([link removed])


** Barr the Gaetz!
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Months before news broke that the feds were investigating him for sex trafficking, Rep. Matt Gaetz was at the center of a separate internal fight at the Justice Department. U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe, a former law partner of Gaetz's at the firm Keefe, Anchors & Gordon, sought to open a wide-ranging probe into voter fraud in Florida last year. Needing DOJ approval, he asked Gaetz for help, so the congressman took a meeting with then-President Donald Trump, who obliged Keefe's request. When former Attorney General Bill Barr got wind of it, he was incensed, and in no uncertain terms, he let Keefe know it. Gaetz, as per usual, denies any wrongdoing. —Politico ([link removed])
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** Blake: The unlikely implosion of the America First Caucus
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"[I]n recent days, we've witnessed something exceedingly rare in today's Republican Party: certain elements of it going too far and being forced to retreat. Last week, Punchbowl News reported that Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar were involved in the launch of an 'America First Caucus.' A detailed document laying out the caucus' platform suggested that it would focus on promoting 'Anglo-Saxon political traditions' and warned that mass immigration would have an impact on the 'unique identity' of the country. The reaction was swift. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy even issued an oblique statement not mentioning the group but denouncing 'nativist dog whistles.' Since then, we've seen a steady backtracking on the idea." —Aaron Blake in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Aaron Blake is senior political reporter at
The Washington Post.

MORE: How Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene juiced their fundraising numbers —ProPublica ([link removed])


** Focus on immigration reform
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In a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus yesterday, President Biden promised that he would make a more proactive case for the economic benefits of immigration, selling a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as a $1.4 trillion boon for the U.S. economy. He also may be open to moving some immigration measures via budget rules that allow a simple majority vote in the Senate. ([link removed])
* — Narrow bills providing a citizenship pathway for Dreamers and legal status for farmworkers are currently stalled in the Senate after passing the House earlier this year. Meanwhile, Biden's comprehensive immigration bill hasn't even received a vote in the House yet, where it faces resistance from some Democrats. ([link removed])
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* — Some on Capitol Hill argue that a pathway to citizenship for certain classes of undocumented immigrants can be packaged in a reconciliation bill, which could pass the Senate with just 50 votes—as the Senate parliamentarian recently ruled with regard to Biden's infrastructure plan. ([link removed])
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* — Biden said he "supports passing certain immigration reforms by reconciliation if we can't get the 10 Republican votes," according to Rep. Darren Soto, who attended yesterday's meeting. The president is expected to address the issue formally in his upcoming address to a joint session of Congress. —Politico ([link removed])

MORE: Arizona governor declares state of emergency at border —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** Boot: Not even trying to hide it anymore
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"[T]he white supremacist 'replacement theory'—which claims that shadowy elites are importing people of color to replace native-born Whites—has gained wide adherence in the GOP. It has been pushed recently by everyone from Fox News' Tucker Carlson to Sen. Ron Johnson, who recently wondered if Democrats 'want to remake the demographics of America to ensure—that they stay in power forever.'" —Max Boot in The Washington Post ([link removed])

Max Boot is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

MORE: Bush describes GOP as 'isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist' —CNN ([link removed])

Thank God that lawless, bigoted Donald J. Trump is no longer president, so he cannot pardon former police officer, and convicted murderer of George Floyd, Derek Chauvin. You know he would if he could. —Susan K., Utah

Mitch McConnell and members of the Russo-publican party are ranting about CEOs of private businesses that are speaking out and taking action related to the election law passed in Georgia and similar laws proposed across the country. First, the obvious: CEOs are people. But "Moscow Mitch" and others have told us corporations are people as well. Lest we forget Citizens United? No need to go on.

But here's a question for the hypocrites and the real "cancel cuture" folks like McConnell. By declaring that CEOs and corporations should get out of politics, shouldn't the same hold true for religious leaders and houses of worship? As one of the "intellectual leaders" of the party likes to say, "You betcha." —Bill T., Arizona
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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