A Judge's View: For justice to prevail, don’t rely on sketchy information, social media

The recent events in Missouri have been hard to watch. A young man was killed, a police officer’s life was changed forever, and an entire city has been on the brink of chaos. Whenever an event like this happens - and they seem to be happening far too frequently - there are appropriate calls to have a “larger dialogue” on issues of race and poverty. But it doesn’t ever really happen. The 24-hour news cycle puts pressure on media to report every snippet of information, often devoid of context, sometimes wholly inaccurate. Social media gives every opinion a worldwide forum, no matter how uninformed. Inevitably, the actual events and the real people affected are secondary to various camps trying to advance their own agendas. By the time a thorough investigation is completed, people already have made up their minds. And if the results of that investigation don’t fit the narrative to which they subscribe, then the investigation must be flawed. Or corrupt. Our own impatience prevents us from ever having that larger dialogue. Prior to becoming a judge, I served as an assistant county attorney. My main job was acting as staff counsel for our sheriff’s office, helping train officers on the use of force and sometimes representing deputies accused of using excessive force. Those decisions are made in an instant with the highest stakes imaginable. I know I could not be a law enforcement officer, and I have tremendous respect for those men and women who put their lives at risk every day to preserve public safety. As a judge, I see every day how poverty, race, and violence affect our communities of northern Minnesota. My job is to ensure justice for everyone, regardless of color or income. But I know some of the people who appear before me have no faith in me to do that. It’s not personal: A lifetime of bad experiences has completely robbed them of their faith in any institution or authority figure, replacing that faith with anger. I don’t think I would do well as a young African-American man in today’s society, and I have tremendous respect for the people who are able to overcome barriers. All of those things have nothing - and everything - to do with Ferguson, Mo. An individual officer made a fateful decision to use deadly force. A young man died. The television is filled with images of heavily armed police clashing with angry mobs. Facebook and Twitter exploded. We still don’t have a clue what actually happened, but that’s not stopping a lot of people from talking as though they do. If we ever are going to have that larger dialogue, we cannot force the facts of a specific event to fit a predetermined narrative. Hold the system accountable for a thorough and impartial investigation of whether the officer’s use of deadly force was justified. But we all need to hold ourselves accountable for not jumping to conclusions based on sketchy information and social media. Read reports with a critical eye. Avoid making sweeping generalizations. Recognize and respect the viewpoints of people with a different perspective from your own. Until we do, we’ll just be waiting for the next Ferguson. And we will have learned nothing from this one. Dale Harris is a 6th Judicial District judge in the St. Louis County Courthouse in Duluth.
The recent events in Missouri have been hard to watch. A young man was killed, a police officer’s life was changed forever, and an entire city has been on the brink of chaos. Whenever an event like this happens - and they seem to be happening far too frequently - there are appropriate calls to have a “larger dialogue” on issues of race and poverty.But it doesn’t ever really happen.The 24-hour news cycle puts pressure on media to report every snippet of information, often devoid of context, sometimes wholly inaccurate. Social media gives every opinion a worldwide forum, no matter how uninformed. Inevitably, the actual events and the real people affected are secondary to various camps trying to advance their own agendas. By the time a thorough investigation is completed, people already have made up their minds. And if the results of that investigation don’t fit the narrative to which they subscribe, then the investigation must be flawed. Or corrupt.Our own impatience prevents us from ever having that larger dialogue.Prior to becoming a judge, I served as an assistant county attorney. My main job was acting as staff counsel for our sheriff’s office, helping train officers on the use of force and sometimes representing deputies accused of using excessive force. Those decisions are made in an instant with the highest stakes imaginable. I know I could not be a law enforcement officer, and I have tremendous respect for those men and women who put their lives at risk every day to preserve public safety.As a judge, I see every day how poverty, race, and violence affect our communities of northern Minnesota. My job is to ensure justice for everyone, regardless of color or income. But I know some of the people who appear before me have no faith in me to do that. It’s not personal: A lifetime of bad experiences has completely robbed them of their faith in any institution or authority figure, replacing that faith with anger.I don’t think I would do well as a young African-American man in today’s society, and I have tremendous respect for the people who are able to overcome barriers.All of those things have nothing - and everything - to do with Ferguson, Mo. An individual officer made a fateful decision to use deadly force. A young man died. The television is filled with images of heavily armed police clashing with angry mobs. Facebook and Twitter exploded. We still don’t have a clue what actually happened, but that’s not stopping a lot of people from talking as though they do.If we ever are going to have that larger dialogue, we cannot force the facts of a specific event to fit a predetermined narrative. Hold the system accountable for a thorough and impartial investigation of whether the officer’s use of deadly force was justified. But we all need to hold ourselves accountable for not jumping to conclusions based on sketchy information and social media. Read reports with a critical eye. Avoid making sweeping generalizations. Recognize and respect the viewpoints of people with a different perspective from your own. Until we do, we’ll just be waiting for the next Ferguson. And we will have learned nothing from this one.Dale Harris is a 6th Judicial District judge in the St. Louis County Courthouse in Duluth.