‘The Voice of Your Brother’s Blood Is Crying to Me From the Ground’

Can the George Floyd case represent the beginning of the end of favoritism in American law?

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(Photo by Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images.)

Let’s begin with a story that goes all the way back to the beginning of humanity’s historical record. Genesis Chapter 4, the chapter immediately following the account of the Fall of Man, begins with the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was angry and jealous that the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering of the “first-born of his flock,” and not for Cain’s offering of “the fruit of the ground.” In a fit of jealousy and rage, Cain killed his brother.

Most Jews and Christians are familiar with the account that follows. God asks Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain responds, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” These words from Cain are legendary. They’ve spawned countless sermons, books, and songs. God’s response is less-quoted, but it’s vital. “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”

This is the cry for justice. It’s existential. It’s spiritual. And if there is anything that we should learn from scripture, it’s that the cry for justice demands a response.

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  1. Paul

    One thing I look forward to is listening to you on Sunday mornings, while reading your thoughts. I write here to ask a question. I just read this article. https://time.com/5956255/free-market-is-dead/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc&utm_campaign=newsletter+brief-pm+default+ac&utm_content=+++20210427+++body&et_rid=21644661 Would love to hear your thoughts. I realize life is full and that may not be possible. So will look forward to Sunday regardless

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  2. Curtis Jensen

    The broad statement that qualified immunity harms Black people needs a little bit more explanation, and data to support it.

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    Stephanie

    Right now, Senator Tim Scott is putting forward a police reform bill, to counter the one Democrat lawmakers have crafted, which is incredibly weak--refuses to address qualified immunity, and waters down many other important issues--choke holds, etc.

    Qualified immunity is a problem which very much needs legislation to replace legal doctrine invented by the courts.

    This is the same piece of legislation from Scott that the Democrats would not vote for last session.

    I hope Senator Scott will compromise and agree to address qualified immunity.

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    Nathan

    I've long wondered about the jump from Cain's case (or the Noahic Covenant) during a time where there was no government and arguments about the role of government. David (and Keller) argues that justice is a purpose of government, but I see no explicit Biblical support. I'm mostly with him on the conclusion, but there's some connective tissue missing.

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  5. Lawrence Segan

    Mr. French overlooks two of the most fundamental principles underlying American criminal law: the presumption of innocence and the prosecution's burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. These principles apply equally to private citizens and police officers accused of crimes. So when Mr. French cites statistics showing that since 2005 only five officers were convicted of murder in an on-duty shooting and not had their convictions overturned, that number does not tell us much about favoritism in American law, especially if you consider that police officers are entitled to the same constitutional rights as anyone else. The principle that it is better to let 100 guilty people go free than convict 1 innocent man applies to everyone, including the police. We must also acknowledge that because of the nature of their jobs, police officers involved in shooting incidents, with rare exceptions, are able to raise the defense of justification, which appears to accurately describe the recent shooting of the 16-year-old girl in Ohio who was in the act of stabbing another girl. Yes, these deaths are tragic, and cops must be held accountable when they abuse their power. But I am not persuaded by Mr. French's anecdotes that the problem is one of favoritism in the judicial system. Finally, without intending to sound condescending, after reading the comments below, whether I agreed or disagreed with them, I decided to sign up for the Dispatch. There should be more such open, honest, and intelligent discussion.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    The only reason Ashli Babbitt's blood s not crying from the ground is because she was shot inside a building, and it never leaked outside. That and the US government ruled that shooting an unarmed woman moving away from the police officer was justified. Which is justice, at least to some.

    I wonder if her family will get an 8 figure settlement too, instead of the 1 finger settlement sent them?



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      Mudskipper

      If you have video showing her moving away from the police officer who shot her, please share the link. The videos I've seen show her trying to climb through the window towards the police officer.

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      1. Tim Johnson

        yep.

        'As members of the mob continued to strike the glass doors, Ms. Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out. An officer inside the Speaker’s Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor. A USCP emergency response team, which had begun making its way into the hallway to try and subdue the mob, administered aid to Ms. Babbitt, who was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she succumbed to her injuries.'

        https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/department-justice-closes-investigation-death-ashli-babbitt

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          John M.

          Yep, they were breaking down the door way and in the video I just saw she was going through the door way when she was shot - the only time she was moving away was when she was shot and fell from the door way.

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    Liz Linton

    David, I don't believe the Floyd case can begin the end of favoritism. Read below for anecdotes to support my opinion.

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  8. H.Allen.Irish

    I literally just posted a comment to this effect when I saw this on twitter. A Va. state police officer has been terminated for an encounter where a driver refused to comply with the officer's lawful order to exist the vehicle and then was forcibly removed and arrested. Virginia's extremely left wing AG apparently threw him under the bus on this. I don't know why anyone would choose to become a policeman now, and if you are already one, why you would do more than the bare minimum. I wouldn't. There is no upside now for aggressive policing whatsoever. Plan for your 911 calls to be blown off in the future. The cops will have their radios turned off. https://wtop.com/local/2021/04/virginia-trooper-off-force-after-traffic-stop-viral-video/

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    1. Tim Johnson

      Looks like the head of the police agrees with the 'extremely left wing AG':

      'Col. Gary Settle, the Virginia State Police superintendent, said after the video became public that Hewitt’s conduct was inappropriate.

      “The conduct displayed by Trooper Hewitt during the course of the traffic stop is not in agreement with the established standards of conduct required of a Virginia trooper,” Settle said in a statement in July.'

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  9. H.Allen.Irish

    You can cherry pick some atypical cases and argue from that that police should have no qualified immunity, but rather should be treated pretty much like a civilian in encounters that go bad. Woke Soros prosecutors like the one in Philly will not have your back and will likely turn on a cop if they get some heat from "activists" calling for his head and badge.

    What you will end up with is cops avoiding all encounters and sitting in their patrol cars on quiet side streets playing with their phones. I live in the District of Columbia and I constantly see cops hiding out like that. Those are the incentives you are creating for police and the result is that you will see arrests plummet (which is the actual goal of the Kramers and Gascóns). If you think the situation as it exists today on the south side of Chicago should be the norm in large cities, then you are surely in luck.

    Somehow, many people seem to be making/buying the fallacious argument that arrests actually are somehow the root cause of crime. We seem to be going back to the 60s in terms of how woke people view criminals as being somehow victims. Ironically, my very woke DC council member, Mary Cheh, recently was the victim of a carjacking that was captured on a street camera. I wonder if she was able somehow to apply her high level of wokeness in order to better understand how the underprivileged minority who stole her car was actually the victim, not her.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    A pretty simple rule. Forbid police from shooting until the other person shoots first. Wait until the knife draws blood on the officer. But, permit the police to stay far away from the other person until they shoot. Far away, like, out of bullet range.

    Criminals will then begin to carry knives (safer for them). Society might not be safer, but justice will be done. Or at least police injustice will drop.

    Unless you're a non police officer who got stabbed, but we can't solve every problem.

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