A hero of our time: Tou Thao

[Ken]

You don’t have to like a guy while still believing he deserves to be treated fairly.

In what ways was Chauvin treated unfairly?

There are an average of 15,000 to 20,000 murder and manslaughter cases tried every year across the US. All of them deserve to be treated fairly. Is there any evidence that Chauvin's case failed to meet the ordinary standards of fairness that we apply to all criminal cases? That he was treated more unfairly than the average defendant?

[RZehr]

You don’t have to like a guy while still believing he deserves to be treated fairly.

In what ways was Chauvin treated unfairly?

There are an average of 15,000 to 20,000 murder and manslaughter cases tried every year across the US. All of them deserve to be treated fairly. Is there any evidence that Chauvin's case failed to meet the ordinary standards of fairness that we apply to all criminal cases? That he was treated more unfairly than the average defendant?

I don’t think he was treated with perfect fairness. But certainly close enough overall. And probably fairer than many are, particularly inner city poor people.
And I think the prison sentence was not unjust.

[Ken]

You don’t have to like a guy while still believing he deserves to be treated fairly.

In what ways was Chauvin treated unfairly?

There are an average of 15,000 to 20,000 murder and manslaughter cases tried every year across the US. All of them deserve to be treated fairly. Is there any evidence that Chauvin's case failed to meet the ordinary standards of fairness that we apply to all criminal cases? That he was treated more unfairly than the average defendant?

I don’t think he was treated with perfect fairness. But certainly close enough overall. And probably fairer than many are, particularly inner city poor people.
And I think the prison sentence was not unjust.

If we expected the criminal justice system to operate in absolute perfect fairness or equity then few people would ever be convicted of any crime. But that is not the standard we apply when it comes to criminal justice. Was Chauvin's trial and conviction fair according to our actual standards of criminal justice that we apply across the board to all defendants? Yes, I think it was. And the appeals court agreed.