Yesss!!!!! Yessss!!!!! Yessss!!!!!
St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch is out! You may remember that McCulloch was the prosecutor who mounted a spirited defense on behalf of the Ferguson cop who murdered unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
What causes the outrage, and the despair, is the joke of a grand-jury proceeding run under the auspices of McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor. In September, I wrote that it appeared he wasn’t even trying to get an indictment; he had a long record of protecting police in such cases, and his decision not to recommend a specific charge to the grand jury essentially guaranteed there would be no indictment.
Meet Wesley Bell
Wesley Bell, a two-term Ferguson City Council member with experience as a public defender, municipal judge, and prosecutor. Bell rose to prominence in a wave of Black leaders who were elected after the Ferguson protests highlighted a glaring lack of diversity in local government. He has since helped establish new police accountability and court reforms in Ferguson, efforts he now hopes to replicate through countywide office.
“People realize the need for change, they realize the need for criminal justice reform,” Bell, 43, said. “When we talk about reforming the cash bail system or ending mass incarceration, I wouldn’t call those radical. I would call those policies that work and help people.”
It took entirely too long to remove this evil face of everything that’s wrong with our criminal (in)justice system, but better late than never, right? Tonight we celebrate.