Those who see criminals as victims tend frequently to complain about the collateral consequences of conviction. And while it's true that there are likely to be such consequences if you're found guilty of, for example, being a smack pusher, con artist, strong arm or thief, etc., our opponents misapprehend the true source of the problem.
It's not that the offender has an adverse adjudication (although certainly that's in the mix). It's the behavior that led to the adjudication in the first place. An adjudication of criminal conduct provides a prospective landlord or employer with a more reliable than usual indication of potential problems any sane person in that position would want to know about -- and, in this day and time, probably has to know about to avoid liability if an employee whose, shall we say, behavioral anomalies the employer could and should have learned about through due diligence -- but didn't -- goes on to harm a co-worker or customer.
Who do you think will be on the hook for that?
But I digress. Those showing the most concern about the collateral consequences of conviction oddly show none at all about the just-in-the-news collateral consequences of acquittal.
Now you might be saying: Hold on there. How can there be collateral consequences when you're acquitted?
And the answer is: When the prosecution was never really about proving legal guilt, but about offering tribute to a politically powerful group, A group like, say, Black Lives Matter.
One of my entries yesterday featured a Washington Post story about the acquittal on all counts of white police Lt. Brian Rice. It was State Attorney Marilyn Mosby's most recent wipe-out in the Freddie Gray case,
I now notice a telling line in the story that I'd missed before. It follows immediately Prof. David Jaros's ominous observation to the effect that, since the state has other ways of exacting "appropriate responsibility for [an acquitted] police officer," the overall "benefits" of the officer's prosecution "can't be measured in convictions and acquittals,"
Here's the punch line:
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement Monday that Rice would face an administrative review by the police department.
Let me translate: "We may have flubbed the legal case, but we can make his life hell anyway."
As I've often said, an acquittal doesn't mean the defendant didn't do it. It's possible that Lt. Rice engaged in misconduct not rising to a criminal offense. If so, it's fair enough, if not indeed prudent, to deal with it administratively.
But here's the question.
Would any realistic person expect Lt. Rice to get a fair hearing? The political leadership of Baltimore has already shown its hand against him. It's likely to be even more furious now, give the public pasting it's been taking in court. To make matters worse, Rice is a supervisor. And a cop. And a white.
Do you want to bet your house he gets fair treatment when, as the Mayor says with steel eyes, he "face[s] an administrative review?"
And for my colleagues on the defense side, given your outrage about what you see as the crushing burden of collateral consequences following conviction, have you no concern about what Lt. Rice will face in this racially-riven town following his acquittal?
Excellent point Bill. From a certain standpoint, they have to do something to Lt. Rice---how would it look if an internal review didn't turn up anything.
I am not sure, but I suspect, that the Balto. police union is pretty strong. My guess is Lt. Rice will collect a lot of pay while on desk duty.
This prosecution is a disaster in so many ways. Because the State's Attorney is a politicized, self-important amateur, we have very little chance of getting to the bottom of it.
From what I know of the facts, which is incomplete at best, Lt. Rice, while the highest ranking cop on the scene, had the least actual involvement.
The police union is very likely less strong than it used to be, simply because the number of police has fallen even while the murder rate skyrockets.
Like Chicago, Baltimore is a one-party machine town, and their lethal results show it.