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Why the Attorney General's office is critical to safe guard black lives.

Fundamentally, no one is being charged with the murder of Breonna Taylor despite the spin attempted by charging only one of the officers with wanton endangerment due to his shooting.

To say that this is a miscarriage of justice is an understatement. Breonna should still be alive today, but she is dead thanks to trigger-happy cops conducting what was essentially a no-knock raid. 

Although this outcome unfortunately was to be expected—the criminal justice system will bend over backwards to protect killer cops who kill black people, and the city of Louisville telegraphed that the officers would get off by preparing for a night of riots—one figure has a central role to play in all of this: 

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. 

He is the one who declined to press murder charges against any of the officers despite the fact that the officers acted more like a gang than a professional security force when they murdered Breonna. Before anyone says anything about the grand jury (who definitely deserve their share of the blame), keep in mind that the saying that a prosecutor could get a ham sandwich indicted exists for reason. 

This murder is indicative of why having a good attorney general at the state level is vital.

What Is the State Attorney General?

The state attorney general is the top law enforcement officer in a state. State AGs are frequently called to enforce environmental and antitrust laws. They represent their respective states in legal matters. You can see this when state attorneys general get involved in lawsuits against either bad corporate actors or even against other government entities (most frequently shown when Democratic AGs get involved in lawsuits against the Trump administration or when Republican AGs get involved in lawsuits against the Obama administration). 

These offices frequently deal with public safety issues that affect the entire state, such as organized crime or rape kit backlogs. In addition, they will take on cases that some county attorneys are unable to handle because of inexperience, the size of the case, or, as with police misconduct cases, county attorneys possibly being compromised by conflicts of interest. County Attorney Mike Freeman (thankfully) losing control of George Floyd’s murder is an excellent example of the last case. 

When police are held accountable at all, it is frequently because of the state AG. Having a good AG is critical to ensure a functioning legal and criminal justice system in your state. 

My home state’s AG is a good example of this.

Another Case Study

George Floyd was another black person the police murdered. This time, it was on video for the whole world to see. 

The main difference between George Floyd even having a chance at getting justice and Breonna Taylor getting none whatsoever is Minnesota’s state AG. 

In Minnesota, we have an AG who actually cares about holding rogue police accountable for their bad behavior and fixing what is wrong with the criminal justice system so it does not exist solely to brutalize people of color, especially black people.

I am, of course, referring to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. 

It was for a good reason that so many people were clamoring for Minnesota Attorney General Ellison to take George Floyd’s murder case away from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. People (rightfully) did not trust Freeman to handle this case. 

To clear things up, Minnesota—Minneapolis especially—has serious problems when it comes to the criminal justice system brutalizing black people. When I compare the state AGs and call out some of them, I am not condemning the states themselves. 

That done, who the AG is matters a great deal. If the police are going to be held accountable at all and law enforcement in this country actually work for people, then we must all succeed in electing state attorneys general who care. 

The four officers who murdered George Floyd have a chance at being held accountable for their actions only because Attorney General Ellison and his office are working very hard to make it happen. This is what happens when good Democrats win AG offices. 

Work to elect more AGs who care about protecting everyone. 

Black lives depend on it. 

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