OPINION: Difficulties in obtaining justice in Nolan Wells’ death

For sure the writer does not know what happened to cause the death of Nolan Wells during the July 4th holiday. Based upon reactions by significant state parties and based upon the history of such matters in America, however, he is comfortable in saying that obtaining justice in the case will be difficult.

Many people in this country have heard of the disappearance of Wells as he celebrated with white friends and the fact that he was found dead in shallow water a few days later. Many have heard that his phone was not found on his body, but was for days with those friends. Many know nationally-known attorney Benjamin Crump heads the team pursuing justice for the Wells family.

While there have been rumors one of the white friends with whom Wells was celebrating is an off-spring of a local judge, there was a real monkey wrench in the process of legally dealing with the case by Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath. She did it by going before the district’s grand jury and then reporting the jury found no reason to prosecute anyone for the death of Wells, the evidence found was consistent with Wells having drown, and we may never know what happened.

Although the county sheriff’s office issued a premature statement indicating Wells perhaps drowned, it is the district attorney’s office having the authority to decide on further investigations and/or prosecution. Her statement, however, appears as though there was a rush to protect other parties, forestalling their being prosecuted. For good measure, there was even talk about prosecuting people criticizing how the case was being handled and complaints of outsiders and influencers. The latter, as in the days of the civil rights movement, insulted local Black people, implying they would not and perhaps could not handle their own matters. 

 Given the positions of the district attorney and the local sheriff, one can surmise there will not be any further investigations. It is thus difficult to obtain justice in such an environment.

Wells’ family, along with Attorney Crump, have considered asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. The reality, however, is that the current leaders of the department are not likely to investigate, or at least, not come up with the necessary evidence to indict or convict anyone. The FBI and the justice department have long proven untrustworthy in such race-based cases. Under Donald Trump, there is the less likelihood of obtaining truth or satisfaction. 

This means the only entities left to investigate would be private or completely civilian-based ones. We have seen the outcomes of such private investigations, in such cases as Emmett Till, Willie McGee, and the Scottsboro Boys. Nevertheless, such private investigations, even without subpoena power, should be encouraged and carried out since public pressure may cause officials to change their minds and prosecute or since a civil suit could be initiated. (A successful civil lawsuit would salvage some measure of justice, although not full justice for the family. It would also leave a footprint in history.)

Another difficulty, which we have already seen, is in the fact the physician hired to conduct the independent autopsy had to depend upon the state’s coroner for critical body parts and information. In some past cases, such body parts or information has been withheld, or as in a Bolivar County case, a Black woman’s body parts were left exposed in an officer’s car trunk for so long they could not be relied upon to yield the accurate results.

In the matter of examining Wells’ phone, while it may yield some benefits down the road, it has not been determined who deleted information from the phone nor the full content of the material that was erased. The absence of such is a difficulty in the pursuit of justice.

These circumstances show the difficulties in obtaining justice from the system itself, as it is built upon White Supremacy. That is the heart of the problem. History has shown white jurors bring their particular culture, perspectives, and concern about status in the community to the court rooms, to the detriment of Black people seeking justice. History has shown prosecutors can and have often steered juries, in cases where race was an important factor, to conclusions that have not favored Black persons pursuing justice. History has shown that law enforcement officers have often conducted themselves in such ways as to pre-determine who is indicted or freed; convicted or acquitted in such race-based cases. Those are the realities and have been forever and a day, in Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, Missouri, and many other points north and south, east and west in America.

The one sure key to overcoming such difficulties is in obtaining Black power, which African Americans have been without such since their arrival here as enslaved people, especially since no efforts were spared in trying to strip them of their culture. African Americans’ view of themselves, their view of European Americans, and their relationships to their authentic cultural elements, which is the essence of their culture, has been gravely maligned and diminished. Nevertheless, as African Americans re-assess, re-develop, and fully regain their own culture, that can facilitate and accelerate their acquisition of Black political and economic power, which, in turn, will change the dynamics in courtrooms and the larger system itself. 

We cannot expect to obtain justice in America if we continue to march before the bars of justice penny-less, powerless, and without a culture that strengthens and bind us as a people. We can and must move now to change the power dynamics, in the name of Nolan Wells, Emmett Till, and the untold others who have gone before us and for the benefit of those who are with us and who will come behind us.