Mass Incarceration

Pennsylvania becomes the latest state to ensure equitable representation for incarcerated people.

Change is long overdue to a system that has delivered unequal justice to far too many in our state for far too long. In the year since the tragic murder of George Floyd, we have seen the conviction of Mr. Floyd’s murderer, but Minnesotans are still waiting for justice. Minnesotans deserve real reforms to prevent what happened to Mr. Floyd, and others, from ever happening again. Our legislative leaders must make commonsense policing reforms a top priority and they must not come up short again.

I am encouraged by the decision in the Chauvin case but I am in no way relieved. The criminal justice system has a history of failure in similar cases. This one conviction does not absolve a system that has disappointed the families of Michael Brown, Antwon Rose, Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott and so many others.

Today’s conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is a small step but we still have so far to go to address the underlying racism, police brutality, and lack of police accountability behind it. The conviction represents accountability but not justice. George’s Floyd’s murder must serve as one more catalyst to bring about systemic change and dismantle the white supremacy that drives deadly policing in the United States. In the wake of this conviction, so much more must still be done to bring about equal justice for Black Americans. Unchecked police brutality continues to claim the lives of far too many Black and Brown people and it must be ended.

What happens next time, if a black individual is killed by the hands of police but there is no video footage of that incident? As a black man that question angers me because I am not sure the outcome of that trial would be the same.

Incarcerated people are contracting COVID-19 at a staggering rate, this is not only an alarming public health issue but because of our country’s racist system of mass incarceration -- it’s a major racial justice issue, too.