"Let justice roll down like water, righteousness like a mighty stream" (Amos 5:25). Is the verdict in the Chauvin trial a tide of justice or a drop in a bucket?
Parashat Acharei Mot-K'doshim
I remember that everything stopped in my classroom when the verdict in the OJ Simpson trial was about to be announced. The teacher interrupted our lesson, someone turned on the radio, and we sat quietly to listen. Honestly, I don’t think I knew more than the barest of details about what the case was about and that everyone in my predominantly white upper-middle class suburb seemed to think that Simpson was guilty. I certainly didn’t know why it was such a big deal that my local radio station in New Jersey would broadcast the verdict. Nevertheless, we sat at our desks and listened to the staticky radio as juror after juror affirmed the verdict of “not guilty.”
I was in fifth grade -- old enough to start discussing these topics in civics lessons but not really aware of the world, especially at a time before smartphones and the internet. At the time -- and again, with no real understanding of anything other than the opinions I overheard from adults around me or on the news -- I thought the verdict was an unfair judgment that let a murderer walk free. I remember my teacher trying to explain the difference between believing that a person was guilty and having evidence that proved “beyond reasonable doubt” that they were guilty. I remember her explaining that acquittal didn’t mean that the person didn’t do the crime, but that it could be that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that they did. I knew about the concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” but didn’t realize that the consequence is that there is a preference for guilty people to be acquitted rather than letting innocent people be punished.
It wasn’t until high school, probably at camp, that I learned about some of Judaism’s judicial priorities: the biblical requirement of two eyewitnesses to corroborate the events of any capital crime, the rabbinic fear of convicting someone who could potentially be innocent of a capital crime, the deep commitment to judging the case and only the case, and the command in this week’s parashah to judge fairly, without favoring the poor or showing deference to the rich. We might include race, ethnicity, nationality, and a myriad other social determinants as well. None of them -- NONE of them -- should be considered in judging a case unless they are material to the case itself.
We know, unfortunately, that all of these play a role in our criminal justice system, from the way different neighborhoods are policed, to the force used in apprehending a suspect, to the use and cost of bail, to access to skilled legal representation, to trials and sentencing, to the conditions of jails and prisons. Every aspect of our criminal justice system is steeped in the racism and classism that pervades American society.
More than 25 years later, I was on a call with young Pittsburgh leaders, part of the ongoing connection I have with the program I did at Harvard Business School a few years ago. As in 5th grade, we all stopped what we were doing to listen to the verdict come in in the Chauvin trial. Instead of a radio, it was a screenshare of the livestream on a news website, but everyone was similarly quiet. We waited with bated breath to hear that Derek Chauvin was “Guilty” on all three charges for his role in the death of George Floyd.
I think all of us were surprised. Despite the wide political and social backgrounds that we all have, we mostly expected Chauvin to be acquitted.
But it shouldn’t have been surprising -- the whole episode of Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes while Floyd begged for breath was caught on video. Talk about eyewitnesses! Still, there were claims that Floyd’s underlying health conditions caused his death rather than the knee on his neck and that the use of force was necessary. Still, there’s a history of police not being convicted, if they’re even charged, for deaths in police custody (it’s about 1.1%). Still, the NYTimes reported 64 deaths at the hands of police over the course of the trial, including four children. Most of the victims Black or Latino men under the age of 30. There was so little faith in the system that, for many people, what seemed like an obvious verdict was still surprising.
We breathe with relief that Floyd’s cries of “I can’t breathe” were heard and acknowledged, that he wasn’t silenced again as he was last summer. We breathe with relief that a police officer was actually held accountable when so many haven’t. We breathe with relief that justice prevailed.
Any of you who have heard me teach about the Book of Leviticus know that injustice damages the relationship between the people immediately involved, the relationship between individuals and the community as a whole, and the relationship between the community and God. The judicial system is meant to identify the perpetrators of injustice and assign the restitution required to return the injured party and the community to a state of wholeness. Only then, once the human relationships become whole, can there be ritual acts to restore the relationship with God.
George Floyd’s death was a violent act of injustice. There are no damages that Chauvin or his fellow officers could pay that would truly restore wholeness to Floyd or his family, but the verdict and the sentencing will do what they can to effect justice. And still, it’s not enough. It’s not enough because justice for George Floyd doesn’t bring justice for the dozens of other people who were unjustly and needlessly killed, whose murderers were not even charged, let alone held accountable. Justice for George Floyd doesn’t mean police killings will stop or even decline in number. Justice for George Floyd doesn’t change the racism that underpins much of American society, especially our criminal justice system. Justice for George Floyd is merely that -- justice for George Floyd.
There is so much more work that needs to happen before we can claim that our society is just. I hope that this case and verdict are a sign of what’s to come, that this will lead to more efforts to eradicate racism from the criminal justice system and from society as a whole. I hope that we are on a path toward systemic justice, where everyone is treated fairly and equitably. I hope that we reach a point where we can actually say that all lives matter because Black and Brown lives matter too. May this instance of justice lead us steadily towards a time when we are a nation “with liberty and justice for all.”
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