Since George Zimmerman's arrest in the Trayvon Martin case, and as more details come out about the Sanford, Fl., police's work, it has become easier to defend Zimmerman, says Slate.com. His defense fund quickly took in $200,000. Among his angels were the founders of Legal Boom, a local gun rights group. The fund has been taking in around $1,000 per day. That’s a steady clip, considering how public interest in the story has faded.
New bits of information from the investigation have bolstered Zimmerman’s version of the story. Harvard Law Prof. Alan Dershowitz has started writing about how the media and the special prosecutor were “biased against Zimmerman,” and how the charge of second-degree murder would never hold up. On Fox News’ Huckabee, he asked, where did the press get off, implying that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin? “It was the prosecutor who talked about profiling, in the affidavit itself!” said Dershowitz. “He didn’t have any basis. It was just made up.” One scenario that would have provided some swift justice for the Martin family without making Zimmerman infamous. That option: a timely arrest, and a police investigation.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
A Maryland legislator accused of race baiting after warning of "black mobs" converging on downtown Baltimore and urging the the city's popular Inner Harbor be declared a "no-travel zone" is now calling on the mayor to resign unless she holds a "solutions summit," reports the Baltimore Sun. Delegate Patrick McDonough, a Republican from Harford and Baltimore counties, also called for a citywide curfew, which already exists, barring people under 18 from being without adult supervision on city streets after midnight.
"The mayor is playing a dangerous game with the lives of innocent people," McDonough said. "The violent incidents in the greater harbor area is only one symptom of youth street violence in Baltimore. It is becoming clear that beyond the usual hooligans, organized gangs are leaving their turf and joining in the criminal activities." There was no immedidiate comment from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Last week, her spokesman called McDonough's comments a "sad and racially charged publicity stunt" that "is not deserving of a response."
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
A 45-second recording of a 911 call in Sanford, Fl., may be the key to the case against George Zimmerman for shooting Trayvon Martin, reports the Washington...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Maryland legislator Pat McDonough won't back down from a press release he issued alleging that 'black youth mobs terrorize" downtown Baltimore, says the Baltimore Sun. In a Saturday night radio show, he seemed to ratchet up the rhetoric ripping Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake while vowing to bring the issue of downtown public safety to the front burner of public consciousness with a "news conference" and other actions this week. He did not sound like a man about to apologize for what one of his legislative colleagues characterized as "race baiting."
The Sun's David Zurawik says that "McDonough's on-air efforts Saturday make this a media story that raises important questions about role media play in how a community talks about race -- and whether the media in Baltimore have been facilitating or failing in that crucial conversation. One minister has already called for McDonough to be pulled from the airwaves." On the radio, he said, "Either Baltimore city overcomes crime, or crime will overcome Baltimore city -- and the city will no longer be livable at all. And it's very close to that situation in a lot of ways. This is not just a black issue. Yes, the gangs down there, the mobs, are black. I know we have knuckleheads and criminals that are white, but I'm trying to focus on this issue."
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
The killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fl., in February was a test of a small city police department that does not even have a homicide unit and typically deals with three or four murder cases a year, reports the New York Times. An examination of the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the case shows a series of missteps — including sloppy work — and circumstances beyond its control that impeded the investigation and may make it harder to pursue a case that is already difficult.
As the second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman moves to the grinding procedures of the court system and eventual trial, the department’s performance, roundly criticized by Martin’s family as bungling and biased, will be scrutinized in more meticulous detail. Law enforcement authorities, witnesses, and local elected officials identified many problems with the initial investigation. For example, on the night of the shooting, door-to-door canvassing was not exhaustive enough. If officers had been more thorough, they might have determined that Martin, 17, was a guest, not an intruder — at a gated community. That would have been an important part of the subjective analysis by officers sizing up Zimmerman’s story.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
A white Houston police officer was accused of stomping a black teen in a videotaped beating, and a jury found no laws were broken, the Houston Chronicle...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Prosecutors of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting have cited new video evidence, a long list of witnesses and experts, and hints of a trail of...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
By Perry Chiaramonte
While other cities are re-thinking the practice, New York argues its Stop, Question and Frisk policy is crucial to crimefighting.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
In a move aimed at averting lawsuits alleging officer misconduct, Pittsburgh officials are arranging for the U.S. attorney's office to provide training...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Disparities in Milwaukee traffic stops are driven by the racial makeup of high-crime neighborhoods that most need police intervention, Police Chief Edward...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
In the Trayvon Martin case, the court of public opinion has moved online, says the Poynter Institute. Last month, attorneys for George Zimmerman, who is facing second-degree murder charges in Martin’s killing, launed a website, Facebook apge, and Twitter account to comment on developments in the case, solicit money for Zimmerman’s defense, and interact with the public.
“[S]ocial media in this day and age cannot be ignored,” wrote Zimmerman attorney Mark O’Mara. “It is now a critical part of presidential politics, it has been part of revolutions in the Middle East, and it is going to be an unavoidable part of high-profile legal cases, just as traditional media has been and continues to be.” California attorney and legal ethicist John Steele and other observers agree that O’Mara’s embrace of social media carries risk. “They just broke through a major wall by saying the way to defend is to start a website and put out news,” said Scott Greenfield, a New York attorney and blogger. "You have to understand the dynamic of the Internet and understand that you’re playing with a monster that will devour you if you screw up." He added, "Anything you put on the Internet is there forever, and no matter what you say, it can be used against you."
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
By Glenn E. Martin
The mass incarceration of minority communities, and the resulting mass reentry and lifetime collateral consequences, have created the “perfect storm” to ensure that criminal record-based employment discrimination serves as a surrogate for race-based discrimination.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Shelby County Juvenile Court officials in Memphis went on the defensive at a public meeting yesterday, clashing with parents and community leaders questioning them about racial disparities, reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Youth advocates from Nashville, with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, organized the information session to discuss a new Memphis-based project to reduce the number of minorities brought to court. Residents instead wanted to discuss a report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice, which cited a pattern of rights violations and racial discrimination in the local juvenile justice system. Dwight Montgomery, head of the Memphis chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said his efforts to keep youths out of gangs and other trouble have been stymied by a lack of response by police and court officials.
John Hall, head of both the statewide and Shelby County task forces, cited improvements in the local system. The Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center, once brimming with a population that required extra cots, is now typically less than half full. He and the state youth commission called the meeting to explain that Memphis has been chosen for a new project by the Annie E. Casey Foundation -- a multibillion-dollar organization formed in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, and his siblings and named for their mother. The foundation has gained a national reputation for promoting programs that provide alternatives to lockup for juvenile offenders.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Across the nation, people disillusioned by the criminal justice system were galvanized by the Trayvon Martin case and took to the Internet to demand...
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
Why do some cases with perceived racial implications catch the national consciousness and others do not? The New York Times considers that question in a story that looks into a 2011 homicide in Lyons, Ga., in which Norman Neesmith, white and 62, shot and killed the unarmed Justin Patterson, black and 22. The shooting happened when Neesmith found Patterson and his brother in his home in the middle of the night, having been secretly invited to party with an 18-year-old relative he had raised like a daughter and her younger friend. The young people were paired up in separate bedrooms.
Neesmith was arrested and is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, which might bring a year in a special detention program that requires no time behind bars. The dead man’s parents, Deede and Julius Patterson, watched news of Trayvon Martin's death in Florida and--noting the similarities--began to wonder why no one was marching for their son.
Read full entry »
Read All Posts by Author »
