In what will no doubt be one of my wildly unpopular hot takes on the news of the day, I find myself this weekend wondering whether or not a pardon or commutation of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s 22-year prison sentence might be in order. Prompting these thoughts was the news this week that another prisoner stabbed Chauvin 22 times with a crudely built shiv, very nearly killing him. The identity of the assailant has also been revealed. John Turscak is a known member of the Mexican Mafia gang who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for his own violent crime sprees and he admitted that he knew about Chauvin’s “celebrity” status as a prisoner and had planned the attack for at least a month. (NY Post)

An incarcerated former gang member and FBI informant was charged Friday with attempted murder in the stabbing last week of ex-Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at a federal prison in Arizona.

John Turscak stabbed Chauvin 22 times at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson and said he would’ve killed Chauvin had correctional officers not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said.

Turscak, serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia gang, told investigators he thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because the former officer, convicted of murdering George Floyd, is a high-profile inmate, prosecutors said.

To be clear, I’m not here arguing that Derek Chauvin was entirely wrongly convicted or as innocent as the driven snow. Something went terribly wrong on the night of May 25, 2020, and the arrest of George Floyd very probably could have been effected without the fatal result that ensued. The fact that it was caught on video, leading to seemingly endless riots in the streets, mayhem, and destruction made the matter seem all the worse.

But with that said, I still feel that the sentence Chauvin received was quite excessive to begin with. We’re talking about a situation that definitely got out of hand but was still basically a case of a lack of restraint and self-control combined with inadequate police procedures. Chauvin was acting in the line of duty, something that the courts normally take into account. And let’s not forget that George Floyd didn’t deserve to die, but he wasn’t just some innocent bystander, either. He had been accused of passing counterfeit money and was high on dangerous drugs the night he died, potentially contributing to his death despite the findings of one coroner.

I still believe that Chauvin’s sentencing was a case of punishment by mob rule. The court threw the book at him because they wanted to quell the uprising in the streets by meeting the demands of the rioters, not because it was a sentence appropriate for the charges brought against him. On the other hand, two years might be too short of a sentence under the circumstances, but the prison in Tucson has now proven that they are unable or unwilling to extend the appropriate protections generally required for a law enforcement officer behind bars. He nearly paid for their shortcomings with his life this week and he has a lengthy recovery ahead of him.

Perhaps a pardon is a bit too much, but it seems like we could reasonably consider a commutation where Chauvin is released after his injuries have healed, perhaps with some term of supervised parole and community service to follow. Derek Chauvin did not intentionally murder George Floyd and he doesn’t deserve to also die as a result. And even if he did, it wouldn’t be at the hands of a gangbanger with a shiv. The punishment needs to fit the crime and that’s not what we’re seeing here.