June 25, 2021

Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22.5 Years in Prison

Chauvin’s sentence was determined by his “abuse of a position of trust and authority.”

Court TV/AP/Pool

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

A Minneapolis judge on Friday sentenced former police officer Derek Chauvin to 270 months, or 22.5 years, in prison for murdering George Floyd.

In Minnesota, the maximum sentence for unintentional second-degree murder—Chauvin’s most serious crime—is 40 years, but the recommended sentence for people with no prior criminal record is 12.5 years. Judge Peter Cahill said on Friday that he added 10 years to the presumptive sentence “based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority, and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd.”

“What the sentence is not based on is emotion or sympathy,” Cahill said when he announced the sentence. “At the same time, I want to acknowledge the deep and tremendous pain that all the families are feeling, especially the Floyd family.”

Floyd’s 7-year-old daughter, Gianna, and two brothers, Terrence and Philonise, gave victim impact statements before the sentence was announced. Gianna recalled playing with her dad and having him help brush her teeth before bed. Asked what she would say to her dad if she could see him, she said, “It would be I miss you and I love you.”

In April, lead prosecutor Keith Ellison filed a motion for Chauvin’s sentence to be increased beyond the state’s guidelines. A district judge agreed with Ellison’s motion, noting the “particular cruelty” Chauvin displayed as he knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. Shortly before the sentencing, the judge denied a motion from Chauvin’s attorney for a new trial.

When the jury delivered its guilty verdict in April, Chauvin became the second Minnesota police officer ever convicted of murder. The first conviction was Mohamed Noor, a Black officer responsible for the murder of Justine Damond. He was sentenced to 12.5 years.

Chauvin’s sentencing may be a milestone in the movement for police accountability, but, as my colleague Nathalie Baptiste wrote while the trial was ongoing, the racist policing system in the United States “will not be undone by the trial of one violent man in uniform.”

Instead of ushering in the end of police killings, the trial displayed some of the enduring myths used to justify police violence. The idea that the police are inherently law-abiding, of good character, and necessary, for example, or the notion that Black people are stronger and more aggressive than their white counterparts and therefore warrant police restraint, were two arguments from the defense. But the trial also showed that those myths can be upended. “A jury decided that he wasn’t [just doing his job],” Nathalie writes, “and that verdict challenged the most dangerous and pervasive myth in America: White violence can usually be justified, especially when the perpetrator happens to be wearing a uniform.”

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate