l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 March 25, 2012 Posted by Baron Von Ottomatic
A young black man is dead and across the country people are demanding
justice. I don’t have any strong feelings about this incident one way or
the other. Frankly, I’d prefer the nation be talking about the injustice
of bequeathing one hundred-plus trillion dollars in debt to our children be
they black, white, brown, yellow, red, or some combination thereof. Then
again, I’d prefer that’s all the nation talked about all the time. But
Trayvon Martin’s death is in the news and it is a worthy topic for
discussion – although not for reasons the folks organizing for justice
would enjoy.
So now that we’re hearing “No justice, no peace!” from the black
community and others, perhaps we should discuss what justice means in this
case.
First point of order – neither I nor anyone else opining or agitating over
Trayvon’s death has all the facts. All we can say for sure is that he’s
dead and the guy that shot him wasn’t charged. As a general rule I think
that anytime one person fatally shoots another person it should at least be
referred to a grand jury for review. If that didn’t happen in this case it
’s worth asking why. But without all the facts of the case I’m not going
to impugn the local PD or prosecutor for declining to refer the case.
We can probably assume the attention the case has drawn will now compel them
to refer it to a grand jury. If the grand jury no bills the case and does
not indict Zimmerman has justice been served? A reasonable person would
have to say yes but I doubt that outcome would satisfy the folks turning out
in protest.
Alternatively, what if he is indicted, tried, and found not guilty? Again,
I don’t expect that would be an acceptable outcome for the people outraged
by this incident. The only satisfactory outcome for the people turning out
in protest is for Zimmerman to be jailed for a long time, executed, or
otherwise killed. Regardless of facts, regardless of what a jury might say,
Zimmerman must be punished.
Casey Anthony had to go into hiding for fear of her life despite being found
not guilty. Does anyone believe Zimmerman wouldn’t similarly have to
disappear if he were found not guilty?
If he is found not guilty should we assume he will then be tried again by
Holder’s DOJ for violating Martin’s civil rights? Zimmerman may or may
not have uttered a racial slur during his call to 911, does that in
combination with Martin’s death constitute a violation of civil rights? I
don’t believe so yet have no doubt the feds would take another crack at him
under the lower standard of evidence that would be required to convict him
in a civil rights case.
I cannot foresee a pleasant outcome for this case. If he’s not indicted or
found not guilty there’s a good chance the frustration in the streets will
erupt into violence. The only thing that will placate the street at this
point is a conviction for murder one – which is probably not even a
possibility considering the local PD and DA didn’t see enough evidence to
even refer the case to a grand jury.
What does justice for Trayvon Martin mean? It depends on who you ask. I
always though Americans were better than a bunch of blood-feuding Pashtuns
in tribal Afghanistan. Please prove me right. |
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