Local protests continue in response to last month’s grand jury decision in Ferguson, Mo., not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, and this month’s grand jury decision in New York not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of unarmed Eric Garner.
Hundreds of Lexington and Newton residents came out over the weekend to express their frustration and anger with a criminal justice system that’s left two white police officers without an indictment in the killings of two unarmed black men, and a criminal justice system some say is out of balance.
Much of the controversy stems from the lack of transparency in grand jury proceedings.
“The way to fix [the grand jury system] is transparency,” Boston College Law School Professor Robert Bloom – who specializes in constitutional law, criminal procedure, court system police abuse and the Fourth Amendment – told WGBH News.
Bloom says that in cases involving police officers “transparency is really important,” given that prosecutors generally have a vested interest in maintaining good relationships with police departments.
Alternatively, the system could be fixed by eliminating grand juries all together.
“If there’s a preliminary hearing, let it be before judge in an open setting so that people can see what’s going on,” said Bloom.
You can listen to the full interview with Bloom above. Tune in to 89.7 WGBH at 7:20 a.m. all week for our focus series: From Ferguson to Boston.
