Protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 19, the day before the verdict was reached in Derek Chauvin's
trial.
Following the court's sentencing of Derek
Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd to only 22.5 years -- which
means he is eligible for parole in 15 years --
many community members were angry, saying such a sentence did not
fulfill their demands for justice and accountability. Many had demanded
charges of first degree murder for which, in
Minnesota, conviction means life in prison. Chauvin's charge of second
degree murder has a maximum of 40 years but even that was not given. He was also found guilty of
second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder. The judge has
discretion to provide sentencing for each, to be served consecutively.
For Minnesota, the maximum for second degree
manslaughter is 10 years and for third degree murder nine years, or 59
years in total.
Many
compare Chauvin's sentence of 22.5 years for murdering George Floyd to
longer sentences commonly served for similar or lesser offences,
especially when African Americans
and Puerto Ricans are being sentenced. One in seven people in U.S.
prisons are serving a life sentence, commonly for lesser violent crimes
than murder. This includes 3,972 people serving
life sentences for a drug-related offence. More than two-thirds of
those serving life sentences are people of colour with one in five
Black men in prison serving a life sentence, again usually
for lesser crimes than Chauvin's.
Puerto Rican political prisoners got 60-75 year sentences
just for conspiracy, with no actual act of violence having been committed.
Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous leader charged with
murder, which even the government now admits he did not commit, remains in
prison after 46 years. He is now 77, yet the government refuses to
release him.
The sentence given Derek Chauvin will not act as a deterrent to more
racist killings by police either. So long as the U.S. state and its
policing agencies at all levels refuse to assume
ownership of their own actions, such killings will continue until the
people themselves succeed in bringing them to an end. The rulers take
no responsibility because they believe they will
not face any consequences. That is where they are wrong.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 18 - July 4, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51182.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
