Over the last decade the United States has slipped from 2nd to 15th the UN Human Development Index(HDI). One of the reasons for this is that although the US has 5% of the world’s population the US has 25% of all people incarcerated. The HDI measures how likely people in a country will have long, healthy, dignified and happy lives. If you feel like the country has been moving in the wrong direction it is not paranoia but just rational observation and analysis which led you to this conclusion.

Around two thirds of the people incarcerated come from the black and Hispanic minority groups which make up around 25% of the population. This incident is just the tip of the iceberg of a systemic savagery directed at minorities by a foul legal system. I live in Dallas where every other month some new murderer or rapist is exonerated by DNA evidence which the first ever black DA in Dallas is willing to use.

I hope some opportunistic and enterprising attorney takes this case and creatively manages to hammer Seattle with a settlement that is so spectacularly high it forces a systemic change. If slipping down the HDI is not reason enough to cause change then perhaps a verdict of many tens of millions of dollars will focus the Seattle PD and political leaders on the required change.