What Happens Next in the Ferguson Case

After the grand jury delivered its decision Monday not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the suburban city once again plunged into unrest. As the smoke (and tear gas) clears, what happens next for the Ferguson community may take place at the federal level, in the context of a civil case, or both.

The U.S. Justice Department still has two opportunities to bring criminal charges related to this case. Investigators from the Civil Rights Division have been looking into racial profiling practices and patterns of excessive force at the Ferguson Police Department. And there is also the ongoing separate federal investigation of the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown, in order to determine whether civil rights charges might be brought against Wilson.