# Minnesota trial of Derek Chauvin (killer of George Floyd) reactions **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024 "2021-03-30T13:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 54
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1063 "2023-11-25T13:39:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But i have to admit, i saw the news alert, and thought, “it couldn’t have happened to a better man”. I admit that too. And I thought that if chauvinism was named after a person (like sandwich, [cardan joint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint), or to lynch) the goodness must run in the family. ETA: Oh, look: it was. [Nicolas Chauvin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Chauvin), French soldier. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1064 "2023-11-25T13:47:20Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But i have to admit, i saw the news alert, and thought, “it couldn’t have happened to a better man”. I thought “I hope he doesn’t die, because he owes a lot more time than that.” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1065 "2023-11-25T14:25:21Z")
I don’t want violence in prison. It’s not just bad for the prisoners, it’s bad for the staff. I don’t want violence anywhere. We shouldn’t celebrate this. I know that’s easy to say and hard to do, but we should try to fight those base instincts of ours for a better society. This isn’t scolding, this is pleading. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1066 "2023-11-25T15:54:42Z")
But it’s also bad for the prisoners. And we shouldn’t be forcing people into situations where violence is inflicted on them. Not even people like Chauvin. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1067 "2023-11-25T17:03:06Z")
It’s also an unwarranted reward for the person who attacked Chauvin - that oerson is in prison for a reason and shouldn’t have the opportunity to enjoy inflicting violence on anyone (nor enjoy applause because of whom he inflicted violence upon) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1068 "2023-11-25T17:08:47Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But i have to admit, i saw the news alert, and thought, “it couldn’t have happened to a better man”. I’ve got very little sympathy for Chauvin in particular. But in addition to what others have said: I can readily imagine a police officer deciding whether to turn in or to testify against another officer who’s done something well worthy of prison – and being persuaded not to do so by this example of ex-police officers being at risk while in prison of being seriously attacked by other inmates. If the police don’t trust that the sentence given by the court will be the worst that happens to the convicted, I suspect that at least some of them will be a lot less willing to help send one of their colleagues to prison. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1069 "2023-11-25T17:11:49Z")
I was kind of thinking the flip side of that. Dirty cops who inflict more damage on the populace than they are supposed to ought to be taught that that’s wrong. Letting him be assaulted in prison send the message that that’s just how the world works, and it’s okay to do it if you can get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1070 "2023-11-25T17:15:11Z")
Yeah, that’s also true. I quoted you mostly as a jumping-off point – sorry that I didn’t make that clear. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1071 "2023-11-25T17:29:03Z")
AITA? (Yes I am) I can’t help to have schadenfreude when someone who refuses to follows society’s rules and inflict pain, suffering and even death on the innocent is themselves hurt by someone that refuses to follow the rules. The irony … it burns like Holy Water. Yes, I know we need to do better than criminals. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1072 "2023-11-25T17:38:23Z")
We don’t have to have sympathy for Chauvin to recognize that prison violence is bad for society. In a just society with a just and humane incarceration system, prison violence like this would be quite rare instead of ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1073 "2023-11-25T18:18:56Z")
An analogy I read somewhere said state-sponsored violence is a colloid, while individual violence is a suspension. The latter can be filtered out, while the former can only be removed by processing the entire mix in a centrifuge. The system that can’t protect its incarcerated also can’t keep LEO’s knees off the necks of suspects. Chauvin’s only misfortune is that the centrifuge that put him in prison hasn’t whirled enough to protect him once inside. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1074 "2023-11-25T20:53:36Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > We shouldn’t celebrate this. I know that’s easy to say and hard to do, but we should try to fight those base instincts of ours for a better society. I agree, He was sentenced to Prison, not the death Penalty. Murder is not a Good Thing. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1075 "2023-11-25T20:53:45Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > If the police don’t trust that the sentence given by the court will be the worst that happens to the convicted, I suspect that at least some of them will be a lot less willing to help send one of their colleagues to prison. If only they applied that same logic to the _non_-police people they arrest (and worse) for Driving While Black, Walking While Black, or Breathing While Black… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1076 "2023-11-25T23:04:23Z")
And for that matter, this is hardly the first instance of prison violence we’ve had in this country. We should have been having this conversation when some rando nobody had heard of got shanked in prison. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1077 "2023-11-25T23:21:13Z")
Er, if _Gangster Redemption_ is not mendacious, one has to be really resourceful _not_ to get shanked in prison. Are people really unaware of this stuff? Also, prison gangs have various ways of obtaining intelligence on the criminal history of everyone transferred in, so former cops, sexual offenders, and certain other categories will be brutally murdered in short order. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1078 "2023-11-26T00:34:29Z")
I mean, his name was in the news for weeks. Even in prisons, they have some access to the news. It didn’t take any special gang intelligence to know this was a crooked cop who murdered a guy in cold blood. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1079 "2023-11-26T00:35:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > We should have been having this conversation when some rando nobody had heard of got shanked in prison. And if someone had posted that here and someone gloated over it, we would. I mean he richly deserved prison, but he wasnt give the Death Penalty. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1080 "2023-11-26T00:38:14Z")
Chiming in to agree with Robot\_Arm and Northern Piper, though I admit I understand the wave of irrational emotion that can lead one to blurt out the notion that extra-legal violence is somehow appropriate. That so many are comfortable going with that feeling is appalling. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1081 "2023-11-26T00:40:26Z")
I’m with you. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024/1082 "2023-11-26T01:03:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And for that matter, this is hardly the first instance of prison violence we’ve had in this country. … Or at that prison. According to one report I saw, about a year ago an inmate in the minimum-security unit and pulled out a gun and held it to a visitor’s head. Fortunately, the gun — which, quoting the report, “the prisoner shouldn’t have had” — misfired and the prisoner was disarmed. Re the quote: 😵‍💫 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024.md?page=53) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnesota-trial-of-derek-chauvin-killer-of-george-floyd-reactions/939024.md?page=55)