Jurors for Justice (Part II)
04-05-2021
By Blake Collins
Our journey to the cross has passed. On Good Friday, we sat with the hard truth that the Word Made Flesh entered our world, and we hung God on a cross...
There is deep anguish that comes with this hard truth. But then, Sunday happens. We’ve been reminded this Easter season that we are a people of the resurrection. We know that life is God’s final word. And yet, God still calls us to navigate the hard truths of our time.
The trial for the murder of George Floyd began last week. I was struck when I read in the New York Times that the defense team for the officer charged in the killing of Mr. Floyd “urged jurors to consider evidence beyond the video.” I almost threw my phone! Beyond the video?! The defense is referring to a nine-minute video that shows the charged officer kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck, with hands in his pockets, as Mr. Floyd calls out for his mother, saying “I can’t breathe.” Didn’t we just read Christ’s words “I thirst” only a few days ago? The connections are clear, and the jurors in this trial have work ahead.
In a conversation with Jia Johnson, program director for McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative (SBI), she asked me “I wonder if the jurors in this trial had actually taken the training we're offering this May, what impact that would have on their presence?” It is this wonder that makes SBI’s promotion of the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls’ community teach-in on May 1st at 10am (CST) so exciting. Keep this workshop on your radar!
The training will cover the power that each juror has to find a person guilty or not-guilty based on the evidence and one’s conscious(!); how the criminal legal system keeps jurors unaware we have this power; how prospective jurors can maximize our chances of being on a jury; and finally, the life-saving impact of conscientious acquittal.
We can be agents of transformative justice. Please consider signing-up today, and inviting your community to register!
Blake Collins is the Certificate Coordinator for SBI’s theological courses at Cook County Jail. Blake is a M-DIV student seeking ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
