The case for a well-funded organization for wrongful death lawsuits against cops who kill.

[MineralMan]

It happens over and over again. A cop wrongfully shoots someone, usually someone of color, and avoids prosecution after a long investigation. District attorneys are loathe to file criminal cases against such police officers. They have to work with the police in other sorts of criminal activity and run for office from time to time. Grand juries hear what prosecutors want them to hear, and the prosecutors get enormous pressure not to try cops for shooting people.

In Minnesota, a small community embedded in a larger city and that contracts with another similar small city for law enforcement had one of those wrongful shootings happen recently. Philando Castile was shot in a clear abuse of authority. Will a criminal case be brought against the cop who shot him? Possibly, but more unlikely than likely. There will be a long investigation and maybe a grand jury, but odds are that this cop will skate. So, what are people to do.

My suggestion is this: Fund a national organization that brings civil wrongful death suits in such cases. Fund it extremely well. It would hire the very best civil attorneys and staff members they can find. Star-quality attorneys. Pay them handsomely and turn them loose on the cities and other jurisdictions where this stuff happens. Don't rely on local attorneys working on a contingency basis.

Here's why to take this approach: In the recent Minnesota case, the two cities involved are small, with small budgets. Falcon Heights, where the shooting took place, can't even afford its own police department. It contracts with another little embedded community, Lauderdale, to provide law enforcement services. Lauderdale, too, is small and has a small total budget.

Sue them both for the wrongful death. Put the very best legal experts on the job. Bankrupt those cities. Do the same every time someone is wrongfully killed by police, and in every place it occurs. Make it so costly not to properly train and discipline police departments that they are forced to change how they operate. Make wrongful shootings a matter of life and death for the jurisdictions in which they occur.

This won't provide real justice for the victims or their families. The goal of this program would be to change the way cities, counties and other jurisdictions think about law enforcement. It would make them rightfully fearful of allowing racism, profiling, and other bigotry to rule the law enforcement community.

Treat these jurisdictions like corporations and slam them with multi-billion dollar judgments. Bankrupt them. Compensate the victims' families, of course, but destroy the financial viability of those cities and other jurisdictions that don't properly control their police forces. Make it hurt and hurt badly. Demonstrate that lax oversight of policing can lead to economic disaster. Make it crystal clear.

This needs to be a national organization, large enough to staff its legal team with the very best, most highly paid civil law experts. It needs to be focused on this single aspect of civil law. It needs legal expertise that cannot be matched, even by the largest cities. It needs the best, brightest and most dedicated legal experts on its side.

Take these cities, counties and other jurisdictions to court and punish them for not doing their job of controlling the law enforcement community. Force the subject to be the keynote topic at conventions of mayors, county managers and other people who run those jurisdictions. Make them understand the risks they run when they do not control their law enforcement agencies.

It will take force to change the focus of these local governments. Money is the force. Make every wrongful police shooting a financial disaster for the local government where it occurs. They'll get the picture. They'll understand, and pass that understanding along by clamping down on racist, bigoted law enforcement agencies. They'll have no choice.