re: Protests blowing up in Downtown Birmingham

The same pathologies that afflict the so-called ghetto was common in South Boston (before gentrification). England's lowest achievers are frequently white, many who share the same issues as poor AAs in this country.

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. If just one of them had spoken the frick up we wouldn't be in this situation. How hard would it have been to say to let him up?

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Both Keung and Lane said that, I believe. Chauvin said no.

I suspect the other 3 are going to get sweet plea deals, maybe to something relatively benign or even a misdemeanor, in exchange for testifying against Chauvin. Part of me honestly feels kind of bad for them. Especially in light of the fact that two of them said something to Chauvin about getting off of Floyd or rolling him onto his side multiple times but were rebuked or ignored each time. Lane was only on like his 3rd career shift and said something to Chauvin twice, and even pointed out exactly what was likely happening to Floyd. Everyone likes to think that they'd have just gone and physically restrained Chauvin at that point, but that simply isn't how the human brain tends to work.

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There is no valid excuse for those three not attempting to physically restrain Chauvin

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Yes there is. They would have been reprimanded, and likely have lost their jobs.

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We already do. With the exception of a small number of systems in Alabama where parents care and vote for extra taxes, the poorest systems in the state receive the most funding. 7 of the 10 highest funded systems (on a per student basis) are poor predominantly black (or almost entirely black) systems.

For example, the 97% black Anniston system receives the 7th most funding in the state. The overwhelmingly white Trussville system ranks 80th in funding, even with their extra local allocations.

It's fallacious to think that even more money can make bad school systems better at this point. There has to be a change at home first. Education is NOT frequently a valued commodity in most poor communities, but that's even more true in poor black communities.

BTW - if anyone is curious, the worst funded system in the entire state is the Autauga County system. They have almost no local funding (no idea why they don't support their schools more), and because most of the population is suburban MGM middle class they aren't poor enough to get the big state and federal dollars that other systems in that part of the state do like Greene, Sumter, Lowndes and Macon counties. Greene county gets $11,878 per student (3rd in the state) Autauga County gets $7,615 {138th and dead last).

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Same in NC.

The issue I have seen is how schools are funded. The best schools(ranked) in NC for all categories are the ones that are funded mostly at the local level through local taxes and whatnot. The worst ranked schools are those that receive the most money from the state and/or federal. The issue is at the local level funding they(Board and parents) can determine where to better allocate funds as needed for the upcoming year. If coming from the state or federal they are told.

Example local funding:

Schools need more teachers and more assistants over painting or other property maintenance for the upcoming year. That will happen as they control the funds.

Example state funding:

Same scenario but the state will allocate funds for specific accounts. They are not allowed to pull from one account to use on the other. The state does this for each system no matter what their actual needs are. They can try once the budget is voted on by the state and allocated but with red tape and other issues almost impossible. So schools who receive the most funding from outside the area are never really able to address the biggest or immediate needs.

This is an issue across the country. As many states have used funding guidelines from the Dept of Education since its inception in 1980 which has also seen a decrease in our educational product as a whole compared to other 1st world countries. The system is setup for failure when we have large entities outside of the area micromanaging our local education system. As you mentioned in the local communities where the parents get involved and push on how local taxes are allocated and used the school system seems to succeed at a far greater rate. Once it becomes a commodity in lo the local community and that community takes ownership the students will fare greater as an end result.

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BTW - if anyone is curious, the worst funded system in the entire state is the Autauga County system. They have almost no local funding (no idea why they don't support their schools more), and because most of the population is suburban MGM middle class they aren't poor enough to get the big state and federal dollars that other systems in that part of the state do like Greene, Sumter, Lowndes and Macon counties. Greene county gets $11,878 per student (3rd in the state) Autauga County gets $7,615 {138th and dead last).

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I have three kids in the Autauga County school system.

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I suspect the other 3 are going to get sweet plea deals, maybe to something relatively benign or even a misdemeanor, in exchange for testifying against Chauvin.

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What would their testimony add to that video that would help convict Chauvin? He's been charged with felony murder which is described in Minnesota as an "unintentional murder." The AD doesn't need their testimony to ferret out whether his actions were premeditated (which, in MN, would be required for Murder 1) or even intentional (which would otherwise be required for a murder 2 charge in MN).

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Subd. 2.Unintentional murders. Whoever does either of the following is guilty of unintentional murder in the second degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 40 years:
(1) causes the death of a human being, without intent to effect the death of any person, while committing or attempting to commit a felony offense other than criminal sexual conduct in the first or second degree with force or violence or a drive-by shooting;

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https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.19

They may be able to plead to lesser offenses, but it won't be for their testimony.

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There is no valid excuse for those three not attempting to physically restrain Chauvin.

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Not talking about excuses or justification. There has been a lot of research on the psychological effects authority figures have over people, and it may surprise you to learn that it is incredibly difficult for the vast majority of people to stand up to a person with authority over them. Chauvin had as much experience as the rest of that group combined. There was never much of a chance that any of them would go as far as tackling him and basically putting him under arrest for not doing what they thought he should be doing. All the people sitting behind their computers and talking like they'd have been Billy Badass in that situation and stepped in to save the day are full of shite.

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What would their testimony add to that video that would help convict Chauvin? He's been charged with felony murder which is described in Minnesota as an "unintentional murder.

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They have to prove another crime. Look at the section of code you quoted:

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(1) causes the death of a human being, without intent to effect the death of any person, while committing or attempting to commit a felony offense other than criminal sexual conduct in the first or second degree with force or violence or a drive-by shooting;

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Now, tell me using just the video what other felony criminal offense he was committing. Assault doesn't work, because that's the same act that killed him (if you shoot someone and they die you don't get convicted of both assault and murder, just the worse of the two). You've got to prove a second felony crime.

If he doesn't plead (I bet he does), his defense is going to be something along the lines of he was making a lawful arrest, felt as if Mr. Floyd was still resisting, and never realized he was in real trouble. Their testimony may be needed to show that he was told Mr. Floyd was in trouble and he needed to get off him. I'm not going to dig into Minnesota case law, but that's probably going to be enough to meet the additional felony bar.

Knowing he caused Mr. Floyd's death isn't enough, you've got to check all the boxes of the statute. Don't forget the officer that shot Mr. Castile was acquitted by a jury that had black members. The jurors said afterwards that they felt the state didn't meet the legal burden. If their testimony can help ensure you convict the guy directly responsible for the death, you use it every single time.