Like many, I am still waiting for the evidence used as the basis to charge the six officers in Baltimore for the death of Freddie Gray. This morning, however, I was disturbed to read that an effort to create a fundraising site for the defense of the officers was taken down on GoFundMe. It appears that the site has a very questionable standard for funding that does not afford accused parties a presumption of innocence in asking for support to fund their defense.
The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police created a GoFundMe page for the six officers after they were charged Friday. However, less than an hour later, it was taken down.
After 41 minutes, it has only raised $1,135 — considerably short of the $600,000 goal.
There is no confirmation on who is responsible. However, the site states the following : “‘Campaigns in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes’ are prohibited by our terms . . . GoFundMe cannot be used to benefit those who are charged with serious violations of the law.” Really? Why? I was under the impression that people were given a presumption of innocence in this country. Why shouldn’t this site be used to help guarantee a fair trial for anyone facing prosecution? Moreover, how do you define a serious violation? Clearly, this case would qualify but where is the line drawn?
This is a site that is designed to help people organize in making donations to support different causes. Giving such charity is a positive act, including giving money to guarantee a fully funded defense. Our criminal justice system is a foundational part of our society. It reflects our commitment to the rule of law. Central to that institution is the presumption of innocence. I find this policy of GoFundMe to be inexplicable and distasteful. Many people want to support the criminal justice system as much as environmental or other causes. The policy makes, in my view, an arbitrary and biased decision in barring those who are accused of serious offenses by the government. It should equally presumably bar those who are viewed as victims of government abuse like journalists or whistleblowers.
I also was a bit concerned to read Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby comments telling protesters: “I heard your calls for, ‘No Justice, No peace.’ Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.” I generally think it is a bad idea for prosecutors to directly respond to public protests demanding criminal charges. Such protests should not have an influence on the decision to prosecute and it is always a concern, as with Mike Nifong in the Duke case, where prosecutors are seen as too responsive to public demands for criminal charges. This is not meant to suggest that a criminal case cannot be made but these press conferences can undermine the integrity of a prosecution if the chief prosecutor is viewed as too influenced by external events or demands.
GoFundMe would have Sweet Cakes by Melisa decide to use what resources they have to either feed their kids or defend what they already have, the ‘Right’ to say ‘No Thank You’ is only fitting that the officers face the same decision making process . . Defend themselves or feed their families . .
The damage done to Gray was either intentional or done through such an extreme degree of negligence that behavior such as that has no place in the police department, those who are supposed to serve and protect the people. Videos of cops shooting people in the back, gang beating a collapsed man, etc are routinely defended by the ‘blue line’. No wonder mobs take to the street. No wonder Mosby acted quickly. It looks as if she acted more responsibly that has been the norm in this country. The cops have not been convicted yet. They will be afforded more than the routinely available defense. This is the first positive thing to come out of this circus.
Regarding the funding site. This country buys and sells its politicians in as abhorrent a manner as can be found anywhere in the world today, or in history. and they shut down a site attempting to raise funds for legal costs. WTF?
There were several good interviews on FOXNews last night with Baltimore police officers. One, on The Kelly File, said that Freddy had a habit of acting out in public, and then once he got to the station, he would calm down and actually snitch on other thugs. That Freddy was well known to the officers, and well know to engage in this kind of behavior.
Here is another interview, with Sean Hannity, and we find out Freddy had pot and heroin in his system.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4210499277001/exclusive-baltimore-police-officer-speaks-out-about-case/?#sp=show-clips
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Dev, as I was reading the comments comparing the indictment with mob rule, I thought why do they think it was unjust? As you say, they will have their day in court. Who gave Freddie Gray a chance to explain himself? Not only were his rights taken away, his life was taken away by what the investigation revealed… thus far.
From Squeeky’s link.
“GoFundMe’s terms of service now exclude “campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts,” the company announced in a Wednesday blog post. The site also added language clarifying that GoFundMe “reserves the right to share the content from a deleted campaign with law enforcement, donors or stated beneficiaries who wish to file a police report about any misuse of fundraising.”
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Good for them, a company with principles.
GoFundMe also discriminates against Christian bakers:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/01/after-gofundme-shuts-down-christian-bakery-crowdfunding-it-bans-discriminatory-fundraising-campaigns/
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Having read the blog and gone thru most of the comments, I have a couple of observations:
1.Prof Turley appears to feel there is no basis (that he has seen evidence of) for the arrest of the cops. I disagree, the charges were clearly stated by the state attorney. The evidence to arrest the cops is clear…..A healthy young man was chased by police and arrested for making eye contact and running away (he was at a distance at the beginning) and carrying a SWITCHBLADE which per the state attorney he was NOT.He was not carrying an illegal knife.
He was brought down by the cops, arrested and put in a police van and after a 48min ride was found to be under cardiac arrest with a broken neck. All through that time he was under police custody in shackles. The cops are being held accountable for whatever happened while the victim was under custody…. Is that NOT enough reason for the cops to be charged and arrested?
2. As far as the website is concerned, it is a private website, it is within its rights to set the guidelines under which it lets people raise funds.
3. There seem to be a number of posters who seem to imply that the cops should not have been arrested, because it gives the appearance of mob rule. That is hog wash. So the state attorney should NOT do her job because it looks like responding to mob rule by some. She has a job to do and so far she has done it well.
Finally, this is charges and arrest, as to their final guilt it will decided in a court. Personally, I think the process that is being followed is good and appears to be clean.
Bakers and photographers are the only ones allowed to decide who they will serve and why, it seems.
Reblogged this on Scoop Feed.
Sounds like many don’t like the policy of GoFundMe. So use your entrepreneurial prowess and set up a site with policies that allow what GoFundMe does not. If you’re so confident in your opinion, you’ll have a very successful web site.
What I am most shocked at is JT who has always seemed so much a libertarian wanting to dictate business policy to a private business. If their policy is well defined, is it not their business to have that policy? If you don’t agree with their policy, go elsewhere.
Yes indeed, being positive, I will leave for my morning constitutional w/ good feelings knowing there is some normalcy here.
Ah. Sense has arrived. Welcome back.
would y’all have the same emotive reaction to crowd funding for James Holmes, suspect in Aurora shooting? He has yet to be found guilty.
@ Mary
I would expect that the presumption of innocence should prevail until the process of trial is over.
If people want to give money to support James Holmes’ trial costs or support the police in Baltimore, then that should be their right.
Unfortunately, the Go Fund Me website seems to have missed the innocent until proven guilty idea. But….it is their website to control and monitor as they wish. That is their right.
GoFundMe has a policy which it is allowed to have. JT and other people who believe in justice are allowed to state why we believe their policy is itself heinous.
If all people want is someone to go to jail for this crime, that is not justice. It is evil. That is no different from prosecutors withholding evidence and charging people whom they know are innocent (see the Thin Blue Line for an excellent example of this crime). That is a heinous crime. Justice does not come from picking out people and having a faulty justice system convict them.
John Adams defended the British in a court of law because he believed in our Constitution. We might believe in and support justice in the same way. The hypocrisy displayed by GoFundMe and those who do not want defendants to have money for a fair trial is stunning.
I believe we are destroying our own democracy because we fail to have a true ethical sense of justice. We don’t really care about justice at all. We just want our side to win. We want someone, anyone will do, to pay. Unless we understand that justice can only come from being just, we will continue to sell each other out and destroy our own society.
I want justice for Mr. Gray. I want the truth about what happened to him to be fully exposed. If wrongdoing was committed, and it does look to me that there was grievous wrongdoing against him, this will only happen if I want justice for those who are accused of harming him. These are two sides of the same coin.
No, GoFundMe will allow funding for cases that are socially popular, but nix others based on… well, apparently based on personal feelings. I don’t particularly care if these police officers are financially healthy or not. My concern is the arbitrary nature of GFM’s policy.
I sense GoFundMe was shocked @ all the money that restaurant in Indiana received. It is a good bet the people who started and run GoFundMe are liberal. The tech business is quite liberal. And as we see on this thread and others, liberal are not liking out Constitution the past few decades.
Mary, Yes. I respect the presumption of innocence and have proven that through my work and many comments here. But I believe the Aurora shooters defense is not guilty by reason of insanity, not that he did not commit the killings. The same lynch mob here were ready to hang Trayvon’s shooter and the Ferguson cop. Same mob, different case.
Maineuh – So the business must fund criminal court cases? Why? if it is their policy not to fund criminal court cases (and they have a good definition of what they deem heinous crimes), why do they have to fund this? Why doesn’t Starbucks sell garden tractors?
I vaguely remember a case where the prosecutor attempted to prevent a corporation from funding the defense of executives charged with fraud. I believe that action was appealed and overturned in the 2d Circuit. Everyone knows that unfortunately, you get as much justice as you can afford. By attacking the source of legal funding, the defendants will be limited in their ability to retain experienced and skilled defense attorneys, as well as investigators, expert witnesses, forensics testing and so forth. While the private website can choose to deny certain funding requests, it is troublesome that it is apparently taking a political stand by undermining the officers’ constitutional right to a vigorous defense. I don’t know what happened in that van, but I would prefer to see the truth brought out by an epic battle between State of Maryland vs. some highly skilled defense attorneys. If the government, with all its resources, rolls over a hapless Union staff attorney, we will never know if justice was done. I suggest that the police union establish a separate website to collect legal funds.
Mary Sheldon, that would be a yes. What part of “presumption of innocence” do you not understand? I don’t want some cyber business group deciding who is worthy of help and who is not. Sheesh.