releases: https://blumenauer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/blumenauer-makes-statement-ferguson-grand-jury-verdict
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://blumenauer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/blumenauer-makes-statement-ferguson-grand-jury-verdict | Blumenauer Makes Statement on Ferguson Grand Jury Verdict | 2014-11-26 | 2014 | 2014-11 | Democrat | House | OR | Earl Blumenauer | B000574 | blumenauer.house.gov | legacy | The tragedy that was Ferguson, Missouri continues. We hoped that the Grand Jury deliberations in Ferguson would have helped to clarify and calm while bringing about justice. Like many, I was dismayed by the outcome, troubled by the way it was handled by the prosecuting attorney conducting the Grand Jury, and of course, appalled at violent reaction by some. At some level it is understandable that notoriously unreliable eye witnesses have starkly different memories and disagree as to the facts. The long, drawn out process, and the way it was handled probably did more to obscure the truth than to clarify what actually happened. It certainly did not appear from a distance to have been impartial. However, what is not in dispute is that there is good reason for African Americans in Ferguson to feel that they are not treated fairly by the system, that they are underrepresented, and over-arrested. But this is not unique to Ferguson. The evidence nationally is that African Americans are arrested too often, convicted more, and sentenced to longer terms in prison. I hope that the Department of Justice takes this opportunity now that the Grand Jury has issued its verdict, to examine whether there is a pattern of discriminatory behavior on the part of the authorities in Ferguson in terms of practice and patterns. I strongly suspect systematic problems will be revealed and that the Department of Justice has reason to weigh in. This is yet another wake up call to communities across this great nation that we have a long ways to go in securing equal treatment under the law. While the violent reaction by some is to be deplored and resisted at every turn, it is imperative that people who would act recklessly are not emboldened or empowered as a result of systematic failures in our system of justice. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |