There is a double-edged sword that as technology gets more sophisticated, so do criminals in order to keep up with it. Violence doesn’t end, it just adapts to new methods. Police and legislators have to adjust to keep up as well. There’s no wrong in wanting to get ahead of the violence instead of being reactive to every innocent death. Lately Chicago Justice‘s ASA Stone is behaving far beyond his capacity as a prosecutor, he has the makings of a legislator. He comes up with a new policy in the middle of a murder trial, but how effective is it? Even if it is effective, is it constitutionally sound?
Dawson and Nagel get a gun which has blood on it. So long as the person who turns in the gun didn’t do the crime, he has nothing to worry about. Stone on the other, does. The blood on the gun traces back to Daman Cafferty, a gangmember who was in a shootout with a rival gang which killed a little girl in the crossfire. That gun basically went over the river and through the woods before it was found. So unfortunately for Stone and his case, he can no longer be definitive in his certainty that he has the right man on trial for the little girl’s murder.
Stone still isn’t convinced Chris Stackhouse didn’t commit the murder, but before he can prove it he needs the truth. There are some people who actually believe in the truth, no matter who it points to. That old, rusty gun found its way to the bottom of a good, respectable kid’s mattress by way of his cousin. There are some things you should never hide for family. Keo Benson is just a punk right now, but he had a lot of nerve to hide ask his little cousin to hide a gun used to commit murder. Keo can’t be arrested if he doesn’t admit that, and a bigger problem brews to distract Stone and company.
Gangbangers have gotten more sophisticated with technology. As Nagel puts it, “it makes Boyz in the Hood look like a Disney movie.” When Stackhouse was released, it started the rumor that he was a snitch, and jumpstarted a gang war. Two gangs calling each other out through Twitter and Instagram, using their phones to incite violence. That definitely qualifies as new violence. Stone is a prosecutor, but I’m getting the feeling he has a future in legislation. He’s already taken one bill to State of Illinois for consideration, and now it seems he’s looking to create another policy. His idea to end the cyberwarfare spilling out into the streets is to turn off the cell service of all the members on CPD’s “Heat List”. Take away the means for the likeliest of offenders to commit a crime, and the problem might not get worse.
It’s a good theory, and if you read the fineprint of your social media account user agreement, there is grounds for stripping someone of their app service when you use it for unlawful purposes. Luckily the judge is willing to take her chances if anyone wants to overrule her in Appeals Court. The amount of evidence to support Stone’s case for shutting down phone service is too compelling. That takes care of the largest problem for now, but they still have a murder case to solve, with an untouchable murderer.
The only way to prove Keo Benson killed a little girl is for his little cousin to testify against him. It’s not even the simple complication of family turning against family. This kid is being raised right, and it doesn’t make a bit of difference because of the neighborhood he lives in. If it wasn’t this, he would be a target for something else, and nothing changes. As a black man Jefferies can see all of Stone’s inexperienced idealism shine through, and he can also recognize that his own role as a high-ranking politician excludes him from being able to talk on the matters of this neighborhood too. It’s easy enough to talk about making it out of the hood when you’re not the one living the reality everyday. Stone succeeds in the court room twice, tricking Keo Benson into incriminating himself, but there is a cost. Stone’s victories mark the end of Keo’s family, his cousin and uncle gunned down in the street.
Is there something to Stone setting a policy for stripping suspected criminals of their smartphone use? Would it be skating over the First Amendment too much?
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