Courts & Law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

No, I am not referring to James Bond, 007. Any American living in a state that has lax gun laws and stand your ground laws, and which permits its citizens to engage in vigilante justice (like Arizona) has the tacit approval of the state for a license to kill. It is a sickness in our culture.

There are two good opinions on this topic that I have read. The first is Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal Blog, who writes, Licenses to Kill:

[T]he more I think about it, the real aberration in law and society
that’s been exposed by this case involves the incentives offered to
Zimmerman and people like him—not just in Sanford, Florida, but in much
of the country. At TAP, Scott Lemieux nails it:

Carrying a deadly weapon in public should carry unique
responsibilities. In most cases someone with a gun should not be able to
escape culpability if he initiates a conflict with someone unarmed and
the other party ends up getting shot and killed. Under the current law
in many states, people threatened by armed people have few good options,
because fighting back might create a license to kill. As the New Yorker’s
Amy Davidson puts it, “I still don’t understand what Trayvon was
supposed to do.” Unless the law is changed to deal with the large number
of people carrying concealed guns, there will be more tragic and
unnecessary deaths of innocent people like Trayvon Martin for which
nobody is legally culpable. And to make claims of self-defense easier to
bring, as Florida and more than 20 other states have done, is moving in
precisely the wrong direction. And, even more importantly, no matter
how self-defense laws are structured the extremely unusual American
practice of allowing large number of citizens to carry concealed weapons
leads to many unecessary deaths. (All 50 states, it’s worth noting,
permit concealed carry.)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It is simply too easy to assert that the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial was due to racism, although racial profiling and stereotyping, and appeals to racial prejudice were certainly part of the defense strategy in this case.

In the end, the defense successfully put Travyon Martin on trial rather than George Zimmerman. The defense made Travyon Martin the perpetrator rather than the victim of the crime. They were able to do so because of Florida's perverse criminal laws.

I was deeply offended by defense counsels' statements after the verdict, when asked if the race of the individuals  had been reversed, would the outcome of the trial have been the same? Defense counsels asserted that there never would have been a trial because civil rights organizations would not have pressured prosecutors into bringing charges against an African-American — a perverse claim of "reverse racism" that the race-baiters at FAUX News Fraudcasting have been hyping incessantly to their white grievance audience. (FAUX News was promoting the possibility of post-Rodney King verdict race riots breaking out after the verdict in this case. FAUX News is a malignant cancer in American journalism). As defense counsels tell it, George Zimmerman was the innocent victim of a lynch mob of civil rights organizations and the media. This is an alternate reality designed expressly for consumption by the conservative media entertainment complex. Defense counsels are shameless.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Talking Points Memo reports that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is following through on his promise to begin hearings to amend the Voting Rights Act. Senate Dems Set July 17 Hearing On Voting Rights Act:

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has scheduled a
hearing on Wednesday, July 17 to consider a congressional response to
the Supreme Court's ruling striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

The witness list so far includes Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a civil
rights icon, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), a key Republican
supporter of the Voting Rights Act.

"The Voting Rights Act has been a central pillar of the civil rights
laws that have helped bring America’s ideals closer to reality for all
Americans," Leahy said. "Congress reauthorized this law with
overwhelming bipartisan support, and we again must work together to
ensure that no Americans are discriminated against when exercising their
fundamental right to vote. I look forward to hearing next week from
Congressman Lewis and Congressman Sensenbrenner, two lawmakers who were
instrumental in the 2006 reauthorization and who I hope to work closely
with again this year."

The hearing will be livestreamed at this link.