What are your thoughts on the failure to indict the police officer in Ferguson MO

[Starter]

Yes, it went through the lawful course and that must make it right.




http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30323750
In isolation, the decision of the grand jury in Staten Island not to indict the white NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo would have sparked anger.
The fact that it came less than 10 days after a grand jury in Missouri decided that the white officer involved in the shooting of Michael Brown should not face criminal charges has amplified the sense of racial injustice felt by those who believe the decision is inexplicable.
In contrast to Ferguson, there is video evidence showing what happened in Staten Island. New York's medical examiner had already ruled that the death of Eric Garner was a homicide, and that the chokehold contributed to it.
- BBC News, 4th Dec 2014

The fact that this happened once might be seen as unfortunate but the case of Brown appears not to be isolated. If this is a systemic issue then there is a more serious issue at hand.
This become less of an issue about "saying police shouldn't be allowed to kill anyone ever" but rather, what is the excuse being used to hide behind when they do.

You are talking about two different places about a thousand miles apart in distance. America is a big place, much like Australia. It would be less than intellectual rigor to lump these cases as the same, based on only a vague similarity. Not to excuse the police when they step over the bounds of their legal duties (me being someone who has experience with that), but its a tough job and their decisions sometimes must be made in split seconds under stressful conditions - no malice intended.

Would you be happy for instance if the police killed someone whom the government deemed "undesirable" and then got off because a grand jury didn't indict them? That sort of circumstance isn't that far removed from either of these two cases.

No I would not be happy about that. The government, as an entity, does not deem anyone "undesirable" though individual agents of the government sometime do.

The message which is being sent by the justice system at the moment is that it does not black lives as it does white lives.
Whilst it might be true that black men commit criminal offences at a higher rate than other Americans, the justice system apparently allows absolution for law officers to kill them.

As I said, its a big place and that probably does happen from time to time somewhere, but it is not the system which does it, its the acts of individual officers of the law or in some cases a local mind set of the police.

Does the American justice system actually do justice?

For the most part yes. Much more so than a lot of places in the world. Some places it depends on how big a bribe you can afford. Almost everywhere, if you are well connected, it goes somewhat easier on you. I'll take the system here as opposed to say Sharia law or Putin's Russia for two examples. No place is perfect and no justice system is perfect. The American one is most definitely above average.