Chicago City Wire

Northwestern University  issued the following announcement on June 25

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted in the murder of George Floyd, was sentenced today to 22.5 years in prison.

In April, Chauvin was found guilty of all three criminal counts he was facing — second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder.

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law professor Sheila Bedi says “sending one bad actor to prison — while the system of racist policing churns on — isn't justice.” 

In addition to Bedi, Northwestern Law professor Robin Walker Sterling is also available for comment.

Sheila Bedi is a clinical professor of law at Northwestern Law and director of the Community Justice and Civil Rights Clinic, a law school clinic that provides students with opportunities to work within social justice movements on legal and policy strategies aimed at redressing over-policing and mass imprisonment. Bedi litigates civil rights claims on behalf of people who have endured police violence and abusive prison conditions. She can be reached at sheila.bedi@law.northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Bedi

“Chauvin's sentence reflects the punishment for one white police officer who murdered George Floyd, a Black man who was laying on his back pleading for mercy at the time of his death. A term of imprisonment for Chauvin cannot root out the legacy of violence and white supremacy that infects policing as an institution. Sending one bad actor to prison — while the system of racist policing churns on — isn't justice.” 

Robin Walker Sterling is associate dean for clinical education; director of the Law School’s Bluhm Legal Clinic and the Mayer Brown/Robert A. Helman Professor of Law at the Northwestern Law. She is an expert in clinical advocacy, critical race theory, criminal law and procedure and juvenile justice. She can be reached at rwalkersterling@law.northwestern.edu.