I've spent the past couple of weeks on a slight diversion from my dissertation, although not a complete diversion since it will be more than useful to me down the road. I've been going through the collection of a North Texas hate crimes activist that I quite accidentally stumbled upon in an archive over the summer, in the hopes of turning it into an article. As I begin working on the article, which is partly a response to a scathing critique of the 1980s/1990s movement for hate crimes legislation recently published, I am first focusing on some of the context I feel said critique left out. In addition to leaving out the perspectives of grassroots activists and victims of these bashings (not mutually exclusive categories), it seemingly ignored the apathy at best and open hostility at worst that gay-bashing victims often faced from the criminal justice system, from police up to juries and judges. While I'm not claiming that hate crimes laws are a silver bullet, I also ascribe much more rationality and much less malevolence to activists who pushed for harsher sentencing in hate crimes.
An actual and perceived climate of injustice when it came to anti-gay killings certainly helped fuel the movement for laws mandating stricter sentencing for hate-based murders. If a gay-bashing was even reported at all, and if police took it seriously, and if it went to trial, it would often be the victim's "lifestyle" on trial. I immediately think of the 1994 murder trial in Midland, Texas, after gay hairdresser Tommy Musick's killing, in which his thong bathing suit was entered into the evidence. Cases like this are not terribly difficult to find in Texas (and elsewhere, although I'm focusing on Texas), but perhaps there is none so blatant as Dallas Republican Judge Jack Hampton's sentencing in 1988 of Rick Bednarski, who was convicted by a jury of killing two gay men in a Dallas park. I'm sure many reading this remember the case, which became a national spectacle, quite well. But if not, follow me below the fold...
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First, a brief description of the crime that landed in Judge Hampton's courtroom. It started, as many Dallas gay-bashings have, in Reverchon Park, a park in the gay Oak Lawn neighborhood that had gained a reputation as a place frequented by gay men. On May 15, 1988, 27-year-old John Griffin and 34-year-old Tommy Trimble, both gay (and best friends), were gunned down after a group of teenagers from Mesquite decided to pay a visit to Oak Lawn. Trimble died on the scene after being shot in the neck, and Griffin died in the hospital a few days later. While there were no leads for a while, an anonymous tip led police to North Mesquite High School, where they apprehended Rick Bednarski, who had reportedly been describing the murder to his classmates and bragging that he "blew those faggots' fucking heads off." He was originally charged with capital murder, but the District Attorney's office persuaded the grand jury to indict him on murder charges carrying a maximum possible sentence of life in prison, supposedly because of his lack of a criminal history.
Bednarski and his friends that were with him that night disagree on what led the group to Reverchon Park. According to Bednarski, Trimble owed drug money to Rusty McDaniel, another member of the group, who he claimed was actually the one who pulled the trigger. The testimony of other group members point to the Oak Lawn visit as another in a line of alcohol-fueled trips the teens made to harass gays and lesbians. The group allegedly met Griffin and Trimble outside of a gay bar, where they urged the two men to take them to the park. It was alleged that Griffin and Trimble asked them if they wanted to smoke pot. Despite a patrol officer's initial report and the ensuing assumptions during the trial, there was no evidence that Griffin and Trimble were "cruising" for sex. It was nevertheless an assumption made throughout the prosecution of the case, leading up to the infamous sentencing. Even the prosecution's plea for fairness from the jury was couched in anti-gay rhetoric when Assistant District Attorney David Pickett said, "You may disagree [with the victims' lifestyles]--and I do--but they come under the same laws as any living, breathing human being." In the end, the jury convicted Bednarski of murdering the two men, leaving the sentencing in the hands of State District Judge Jack Hampton. And that's where the controversy began.
Hampton handed down two 30-year sentences, to be served concurrently (so, in effect, 30 years in prison), far less than the maximum possible sentence for the crime. That likely would have been controversial enough, but then, weeks later in an interview with the Dallas Times Herald, Hampton justified the sentence with a series of remarks:
These two gays that got killed wouldn't have been killed if they hadn't been cruising the streets picking up teenage boys.
I don't much care for queers cruising the streets picking up teenage boys. I've got a teenage boy.
These homosexuals by running around on weekends picking up teenage boys, they're asking for trouble. They really are.
I think it was understood by everybody that they went into the bushes for some oral sex.
Some murder victims are less innocent in their deaths than others. In those cases a defendant is unlikely to deserve a maximum sentence.
I put prostitutes and gays at about the same level. If these boys had picked up two prostitutes and taken them to the woods and killed them, I'd consider that a similar case. And I'd be hard put to give somebody life for killing a prostitute.
The victims were homosexuals. They were out in the homosexual area picking up teenage boys. Had they not been out there trying to spread AIDS around, they'd still be alive today.
In addition, Hampton claimed in the same interview that, while his comments may upset some, voters would forget about it by 1990, when he was up for reelection:
Just spell my name right...If it makes anyone mad, they'll forget it by 1990.
Outrage both in and outside the gay community was swift. The Dallas Gay Alliance immediately filed a complaint against Hampton with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for violating judicial canons prohibiting public comment on pending cases and requiring judges to promote confidence in the judiciary, which launched a months-long investigation. More than 500 demonstrators gathered outside City Hall to protest Hampton's remarks, and officials ranging from U.S. Rep. John Bryant to State Treasurer Ann Richards called for his resignation. Interestingly, even Bednarski spoke out against Hampton's comments and said he believed all lives were equal. National coverage increased, as did angry (and supportive) phone calls to Hampton's office, and letters to the editor flooded the Dallas newspapers:
It is unbelievable that the electorate has placed such a man on the bench. The judge is naive to assert that we will "forget about it by 1990." The Republican Party that supports him again will have many things to answer for.
Hampton's words and actions demean our system of justice, express a sentiment which can lead to further violence and are a flagrant abuse of his office.
Hampton's shocking statements should outrage all Dallas citizens, heterosexuals and homosexuals alike. The murder victims did not "deserve" to be killed. the idea that a class of citizens is less worthy than others and that their killers are therefore deserving of lighter punishment is double-barreled nonsense. It fuels the growing national and local phenomenon of homophobia and promotes a vigilante mentality that is as immoral as it is lawless.
Judge Jack Hampton's recent remarks about the relativity of life would have been more appropriate to Nazi Germany than to Dallas.
Having presented views which are anathema to both the Constitution and the New Testament, it would please the people if he would quickly resign and spare the citizens further national embarrassment.
The bar of justice has been desecrated.
But, predictably, the remarks also brought out anti-gay vitriol and rabid support of Hampton:
Judge Jack Hampton is an outspoken man. To be outspoken is to be controversial and to be controversial is to be criticized by one group or another.
Hampton says in public what most others say in private. I think it's refreshing to know a truthful judge.
Remember Jack Hampton! You bet I will. And in a favorable light. While Judge Hampton's use of another word for homosexual was unfortunate, his thoughts were correct. You see, all killings are not equal. If one kills a cop, one will surely be on death row. If one drug dealer kills another, that is not quite as bad.
It is tough for some of those in the media to accept the fact that the masses feel the very same way as the judge. you see, most people do believe in God and read the Bible. They may be unclear on what it says about a lot of things, but about homosexuality, it is very clear. It is wrong.
Local ministers planned a rally in support of Hampton in response, where anti-gay commentary fomented. Said one demonstrator:
The judge is 100 percent right...[Homosexuals] are the same to me as drug dealers. I wouldn't approve of them driving down my street soliciting my kids, either.
After the outcry, Hampton--claiming that he wanted to end the controversy before Christmas to relieve his family of the stress (poor thing)--issued a half-apology for his remarks, calling them a "big mistake." "Everybody gets fair treatment in my court," Hampton said.
I considered all the evidence...I considered what the victims were doing out there, but not their lifestyle. I considered the defendant and his youthful age...I considered his strong family and the fact that he had no prior criminal record.
[...]
What [Griffin and Trimble] were doing when they were picking up Bednarski and his friend in the park is different from their lifestyle in their own bedroom.
That certainly didn't bring the controversy to an end. The investigation of Hampton's conduct continued, and after a 10-month review, a judge appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to oversee the hearing cleared Hampton of all bias charges. But the State Commission on Judicial Conduct nevertheless censured him, the strongest action they could have taken short of recommending his removal.
The Commission finds that Judge Hampton's comments, per se, were destructive of public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. The record of the formal hearing is replete with evidence documenting that the public reacted to the judge's comments with disbelief, abhorrence and indignation.
[...]
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct denounces the public comments by Judge Hampton on the Bednarski case not only as a violation of...the code...prohibiting public comment on a pending case, but as a violation...of the code...which requires that a judge conduct himself in such a manner that promoted confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
While the public didn't forget about his comments like he'd intended, Hampton did go on to win reelection in 1990. Then, he ran to become an appeals court judge against Barbara Rosenberg in 1992. He lost the race and retired. The best part? Although she wasn't out at the time of her victory against Hampton, Rosenberg
is a lesbian.
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TOP COMMENTS
November 14, 2014
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From Wee Mama:
This is a MUST READ comment about harassment from Muskegon Critic, a guy who has found the perfect analogy.
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I loved this comment by HamptonRoadsProgressive on conservative governance.
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I would like to nominate this comment by Gooserock.
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November 13, 2014
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