At CFR, we are defenders. We appreciate and fight each day for the right to competent and zealous defense – for parents, for youth and for families. We fight for fair trials. Chauvin had a fair and lengthy trial, and after two weeks of deliberate, detailed and irrefutable evidence, a jury of his peers found him guilty. We expect the other officers will also be held accountable.
The verdict represents accountability – and hopefully a milestone and a starting point from which there will be no turning back. But the verdict does not represent Justice. Justice will be achieved when there is widespread and meaningful transformation of people – police, prosecutors, judges, many of us – and of systems – jails, Courts, schools, foster care, housing and more. Each and all have systematically harmed Black and brown people, Indigenous people, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, non-citizens, LGBTQ+ people by upholding white supremacy and dehumanizing difference.
In his statement following the verdict, the Floyd family attorney Benjamin Crump urged all of us to “keep the pressure up” and to “lean in.” At CFR, we intend to keep doing that. On behalf of parents facing ACS prosecution, on behalf of parents facing deportation or eviction or criminal charges, and on behalf of youth facing incarceration.
We hope for a day when a conviction for an obvious murder will not be considered a historic moment. We welcome yesterday’s verdict as an inflection point – one of relief and one that reminds us how far we have to go. We’re grateful to our colleagues and their commitment to fighting the fight. And we’re grateful to all of you who have supported us in doing it.