Consider this case in Portland where The Intercept filed a public records lawsuit against the Portland police:
The mother of murder victim Sean Kealiher commented on the timing of an arrest in her son’s 2019 murder:
“They would have let this go nowhere if it hadn’t been for you guys,” Kealiher told The Intercept. ‘They literally, in my opinion, waited until they were like, ‘Oh, shit. They’re going to prove that we have not done anything even though we have all this evidence.’”
Great article. But police and prosecutors are rarely held accountable, and Sean’s mother knows that. At least The Intercept forced the PD’s hand with a public records lawsuit. This didn’t work in the OCCK case (especially since the FOIA suits were filed by a victim’s father the prosecutor and cops were happy to publicly and privately mistreat). Nothing works in the OCCK case.
Transparency? Answers? Right.
Every single person who worked on this case who is still alive should be asked three questions at a minimum.
- Why do you think the OCCK case was never solved? (And, no standard bullshit please.)
- How can we keep serial crimes against children from happening again?
- How can we make sure there is never an investigation like this one ever again?