• U.S.

Columbia Law School Allows Students to Delay Exams After Grand Jury Decisions

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Columbia Law School is letting students request final exam postponements if they are suffering from the “traumatic effects” of two recent grand jury decisions in Missouri and New York not to indict police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men.

The school’s interim dean, Robert E. Scott, announced the policy in an email, the New York Times reports, and a spokeswoman acknowledged that a small number of students already had their exams pushed back. Scott said he consulted with the university’s administrators to approve the policy, which he added is in accordance with the school’s procedures for accommodating students who are experiencing trauma during exam periods.

MORE: Behind the Video of Eric Garner’s Deadly Confrontation With New York Police

“The grand juries’ determinations to return non-indictments in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases have shaken the faith of some in the integrity of the grand jury system and in the law more generally,” Scott wrote. “For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality.”

The announcement of the policy follows a letter written by the Columbia Law School Coalition of Concerned Students of Color, and posted online, addressing the school’s faculty and administration. “Our trauma will be present with us on exam day, our trauma is inhibiting us from sleeping at night, and our trauma is ever-present among the words in our textbooks,” the group wrote. “We are now asked to use the same legal maneuvers and language on our exams this Monday that was used to deny justice to so many Black and Brown bodies.”

Former Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted in the August shooting death of Michael Brown, sparking nationwide protests against police brutality. And NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner in an apparent chokehold, was not indicted in the July altercation that resulted in Garner’s death.

25 Key Evidence Photos From the Ferguson Grand Jury

An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle at the scene of the confrontation.
Officer Darren Wilson's vehicle is shown at the scene of the confrontation in this undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows a bracelet that was found on the ground near Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle in August 2014.
A bracelet was found near where Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014 St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the cap that teenager Michael Brown was wearing when he was shot to death by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014.
The cap 18-year-old Brown wore the day he was shot by Officer WilsonSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the a bullet casing from the gun of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson that was used in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in August 2014.
This photograph shows a casing from a bullet fired from Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson's gun. St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the covered blood stained body of teenager Michael Brown following his shooting by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014.
A blood-stained sheet covers the body of 18-year-old Michael Brown. St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows blood stains on the street pavement from teenager Michael Brown's body following his shooting by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014.
Brown's blood is spattered on the ground near where his body lay after being shot by Officer WilsonSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the a bullet casing from the gun of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson that was used in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in August 2014.
Another bullet casing from Officer Wilson's gun, which was fired a total of 12 times that day in AugustSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows glass and a slug taken from Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle after the shooting of Michael Brown.
This photo shows shattered glass from Officer Wilson's car window, which was shot out during a struggle between Wilson and Brown, according to grand jury testimonySt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the interior of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
The interior of Officer Wilson's police vehicle. Wilson says he used the radio to call for backup after the shooting St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle and a bracelet taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Another bracelet discovered near Officer Wilson's vehicle following the shooting St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
A close up of the exterior of Wilson's vehicle following the incident St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Evidence left following the incident on the exterior of Officer Wilson's police carSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows handprints on the rear window of Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson's vehicle.
Handprints mark the rear window of Wilson's vehicle. St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows the scene of the crime where Michael Brown was shot by Ferguson Police office Darren Wilson.
A traffic cone and police tape mark the scene near where Brown was shot on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo. in AugustSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014.
Officers fetch a bullet from a hole left in the side of a building near the sceneSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014.
A bullet fired by Wilson's gunSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's uniform taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
The uniform Officer Wilson wore the day he shot and killed Michael BrownSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Officer Darren WilsonSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Wilson says he feared for his life during an altercation with Brown, leading him to use deadly force.St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's uniform taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Evidence left on the breast pocket of Wilson's uniform following the shooting of Michael Brown St. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during his medical examination after the shooting of Michael Brown.
This image shows Wilson soon after the shooting. At the time, the officer underwent a medical examinationSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during his medical examination after the shooting of Michael Brown.
During the medical examination, bruising was discovered on Wilson's cheek where he says Brown punched him in the faceSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during his medical examination after the shooting of Michael Brown.
Medical examination also found cuts on the back of Officer Wilson's headSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's weapon taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
The gun Officer Darren Wilson used when he shot and killed Michael BrownSt. Louis County
An undated evidence photograph made available by the St. Louis County prosecutors office on Nov. 25, 2014 shows Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's weapon taken after the shooting of Michael Brown.
A bullet found in Officer Wilson's weapon after the shooting of Michael BrownSt. Louis County

[NYT]

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