Natl. Dir., Dream Corps JUSTICE
James Baehr ’05 served as a Special Asst. to the Pres. in the Domestic Policy Council in the White House as the lead policy advisor on Veterans’ issues. He chaired Policy Coordinating Committees; drafted and edited executive orders, proclamations, reports, and policy documents (including the President’s plan to end Veteran suicide) and worked with Veterans’ Affairs Committees to pass legislation (including the Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act).
Baehr serves as a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves. In 2018, he activated & deployed to the Middle East for Operation Inherent Resolve, serving on the Command Staff as the Chief of the Joint Visitor’s Bureau, where he helped coordinate over 140 strategic messaging trips for key leaders to Iraq, Kuwait, & Syria on the campaign against ISIS. He previously led civil affairs teams on missions in Norway & the Dominican Republic.
Why the Chauvin verdict didn’t feel like justice
The current criminal justice system is not equipped to provide real justice after police killings.
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Broadly, the reaction to the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s murder was one of relief.
“There’s a saying among Black folks,” Veela Ammons, a business consultant and coach based outside Chicago, told me. “It says, ‘It’s not justice, it’s just us.’ And so we thought it was going to be that kind of situation again where even though it was so plain to see, we thought, from anybody’s perspective that this man committed murder, we didn’t think that we would actually get that verdict.”
What justice could look like msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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While Americans waited Tuesday for the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, Fordham Law professor and prominent criminologist John Pfaff tweeted something grim.
He wondered: Would a conviction, “however much justice demands it,” actually be a step forward?
“Would an acquittal here,” Pfaff continued, “push more people to demand more radical change? Does a conviction lead too many to think ‘the system corrects itself.’ Or. not?”
I genuinely wonder if a conviction, however much justice demands it, is actually practically, empirically a step forward.
Would an acquittal here push more ppl to demand more radical change? Does a conviction lead too many to think “the system corrects itself.”