Justice Dept. Moving to Clear Ferguson Officer of Civil Rights Charges

[Yo_Mama]

19. That's inappropriate IMO. The point is either valid or not valid, which is what matters here.

As a matter of fact and law, the commenter's point was valid.

Here is a WaPo blog article from the summer on the legal elements required for a federal civil rights violation to be proved:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/19/what-would-federal-prosecutors-have-to-prove-in-the-michael-brown-shooting/

The tricky thing in a federal civil rights prosecution is proving mens rea — that is, the defendant’s state of mind. As the jury instructions above make clear, federal prosecutors would have to establish that the police officer acted “willfully” — i.e., with a “bad purpose or evil motive.” And because mens rea is an element of the offense, prosecutors would have to prove that state of mind beyond a reasonable doubt.

In some of the discussions of the case that I have seen, this critical point has been overlooked. Some commentators have assumed that the officer could be charged federally if he was negligent or reckless in assessing the need to use deadly force. For a federal civil rights prosecution, that is untrue. A federal civil rights prosecution in the Brown shooting will only be successful if the defendant acted with specific intent to deprive Brown of his rights.

It doesn't appear as if DOJ has the option to bring a case, so blaming Holder is off the wall.