By Rev. Edward Pinkney
12-10-16
A prosecutor has the responsibility of a Minister of Justice, not simply that of an advocate. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to be certain the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.
The prosecutor in a criminal case shall refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause. In Berrien County, prosecutor Mike Sepic has a long history of charging Black individuals with charges that are not supported by probable cause. This is professional misconduct by Mike Sepic. It is professional misconduct for any prosecutor to violate or attempt to violate the rules of professional conduct, to knowingly assist or induce another to commit professional misconduct.
To engage in conduct that is prejudicial, involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation or violation of the criminal law is professional misconduct. Therefore, prosecutor Sepic should be charged with malfeasance in public office!
But Berrien County condones corruption as long as it is against people of color, poor whites, anyone who cannot fight back with money or power. We are living in a time where the good people are driven by the bad people, and bad people do bad things to other people. Mike Sepic does not perform well as “Minister of Justice” in corrupt Berrien County.
The Berrien County courtroom is a place where justice does not exist, where justice is not served. The Berrien County courts are crime scenes. Innocent people are being tried and convicted without any evidence to support the convictions. At one point, an innocent person or prisoner had a variety of avenues to appeal their convictions and argue their innocence. Now, those avenues have been closed by unreasonable law. The bar is set extremely high. When we argue our innocence, when the prosecutor is guilty in office of malfeasance, it is considered to be harmless error. When you do not have morals or principles, you lack integrity; in other words, you have a Berrien County justice system with prosecutor Mike Sepic who has failed as a Minister of Justice.
A new report shows that Berrien County, Michigan has the nation’s highest racial disparity in incarceration rates with Blacks in the State 12 times more likely to go to prison than whites. The report, entitled “The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons (PDF),” is compiled by The Sentencing Project, a Washington based prison reform group.
The United States of America leads the world in mass incarceration. We are the world champion with 2.5 million men and women inside the prison walls! We are in for a rude awakening, though. It is time for the good people to confront this corrupt criminal justice. The people must say, “It is Rev. Pinkney today and me tomorrow.” Remember, together we stand, and divided we fall. Let’s stand together, all people, to fight corruption of justice!
