Testimonies from untrustworthy cops have led to the unjust prosecution of innocent citizens many times. This is exactly why, on September 30 of 2021, Governor Gavin Newsome signed Senate Bill SB-16, popularly known as the “Skinner Law” because it was written by Senator Nancy Skinner. The bill pushed for more transparency in how police departments investigate allegations of discrimination and other wrongdoing by officers.
Police officer misconduct is a serious threat to our society’s justice system, and all too often people of color end up bearing the brunt of it. As former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said, “we have seen across the country repeated instances of police violence inflicted upon people of color and the black community – often by officers with prior known misconduct, yet whose word prosecutors continued to trust in filing charges.”
Boudin enacted a policy in June of 2020 that his office would not pursue charges against defendants in cases that had no evidence other than the testimony of officers with histories of misconduct. He expressed his belief that it is unfair to prosecute people based on the accounts and testimonies of police officers that have a history of racial discrimination, dishonesty, misconduct, or discrimination of any kind; anyone prosecuted under this setting can be sure they’re being treated unfairly.
Boudin ended up being recalled on June 7 of 2022, but his policy was a step in the right direction. This will save a lot of people from being unfairly prosecuted.
Any officer with a troubling history should not be allowed to influence how or even if a case will be prosecuted. It is painful and disheartening to see innocent people suffer unjustly due to others’ prejudiced and dishonest treatment, and it is even worse when the perpetrator is a cop. They are supposed to protect people from injustice.
If we are ever going to have any semblance of a fair justice system, the prosecution needs to examine each case from all different perspectives. This means that evidence should be based on more than one officer’s testimony, and all of the officers must have honest and credible histories. Otherwise it will be impossible to know whether people have been targeted for reasons such as race, economic status, or any other metric. Just consider this case in which a California police officer used a racial slur while on duty. This is truly abhorrent behavior and it brings into question how many of his actions as an officer may have been motivated by underlying racist beliefs.
One of the main reasons the policy Boudin created is beneficial is that it will save people of color from mistreatment by police. Our country has a long history of people of color being prosecuted for trumped-up charges based on the word of racially-biased cops. No one deserves to spend years behind bars on their account. Cops found guilty of previous misconduct should not be allowed to testify in court, and their word can’t be trusted.
It is high time for us to bring an end to the days when people were sent to prison over false charges and testimonies filed by unscrupulous police officers. We need to save innocent people from suffering unjustly and bring sanity back to our justice system.
