SAN BERNARDINO – (INT) - The finding by a grand jury not to indict a Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown will not likely affect a federal investigation. That’s the comment of criminologist and civil rights attorney Brian Levin, a professor of criminal justice at Cal State San Bernardino.

"The county grand jury decision not to indict the officer who killed Michael Brown leaves unresolved the issue of whether federal charges will be levied, in what would certainly be a more challenging case," Levin said. "In any event, you can count on federal authorities making the Ferguson Police Department a focus of civil litigation over their practices"

Levin is director of the nonpartisan Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, where he specializes in the analysis of civil rights and related legal issues.

Story Date: November 30, 2014