DEREK CHAUVIN VS THE STATE IN THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD: THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE MINNESOTA TRIALS FOR POLICING AND RACE RELATIONS

Abstract

In modern society, policing (or police institution) has become an integral part of Criminal Justice (CJ) anywhere, including especially, the USA; CJ usually begins with police. However, the Constitution of the US delegates the powers to establish police force to the states; later the law on which police prosecution, defense and a jury become existent embodies certain legal concepts which are inseparable from its jurisdiction and which also govern its decisions. Floyd’s actions at Cup Foods and his fatal encounter with police officer Chauvin between 2020 and 2021 form the background to this article. By a theoretical review of those events, the US statutes on police/policing, the law of the case vis-à-vis the prosecuting and defense statements/witnesses, the article examines those circumstances (Chauvin’s trial and sentencing) and unveils the abounding philosophical-legal issues of responsibility, justice, violence, equality and race relations. It concludes that, while Chauvin’s trial and sentencing indicate apparent justice, it offers no practical route out of the groveling social inequality and systemic racial injustice in the USA. It therefore suggests that better practical assurances of equality and fairness thrive in more justice in other abounding instances of the Chauvin syndrome.