Revenge of the White Cops

The meaning of the Inglewood verdict. The $2.4 million jury verdict against the city of Inglewood for disciplining two white police officers involved in the videotaped beating of black teenager Donovan Jackson was like a slap in the face. How could the two alleged rogue officers - Jeremy Morse and Bijan Darvish - be rewarded for their actions? Many Inglewood residents concluded it had to be another example of injustice to the black community."No justice, no peace," came the cries from black-community leaders and activists on Friday, as Inglewood officials stoked a city's outrage.  But more than two years after supposedly the worst case of racially motivated police abuse since Rodney King, Inglewood residents still don't know exactly where to focus their anger, or whom to hold accountable for the havoc wrought by the Jackson videotape. With costs still rising as a result of attorneys' fees and a spate of federal civil rights lawsuits, Inglewood officials are vilifying Morse and Darvish; at the same time, the city's attorneys are stuck defending them in some cases, and fighting off claims that they should be exonerated in others. [more]