Justice Department decides that Zimmerman did not violate Trayvon's civil rights
Commentary by Black Kos Editor JoanMar
"The Justice Department had a very high hurdle to clear," says the legal expert.
For Zimmerman to be held accountable for the death, Attorney General Eric Holder and his team had to prove beyond a "reasonable doubt" that the murderer violated Trayvon's "civil rights."
It's not enough to show that Zimmerman" followed Trayvon Martin because of his race," said former Justice Department civil rights prosecutor Rachel Harmon. "They would have to show that he attacked Martin for that reason. . ."
The unsurprising news came this week; the Justice Department closed their investigation without an indictment. Thus, Zimmerman will never be held responsible for the death of Trayvon Martin. He's free. And he still has his guns.
How can there not be an indictment, I wondered. How can there not be sufficient evidence to prove that Zimmerman was guilty of depriving Trayvon of his civil rights? Isn't Trayvon dead and gone? Hasn't Zimmerman admitted to killing him? Doesn't the murderer's words, before and after the trial, prove that he harbored racial animus?
As you can see, I am not a lawyer. Aristotle would be quite happy about that fact, as it seems that law and passion cannot coexist. I do not understand why not. Wasn't it the complete lack of passion for Trayvon's humanity, life, and rights that dictated how the police treated his body and his murderer after he was gunned down? It was abundantly clear to me that it was the passion-less, lackluster, lethargic performance of Angela Corey and her team which led to the acquittal of the murderer in the criminal trial. I would like to posit that we need some passion in the criminal justice system because the lack of it is not working for a significant portion of this country. We need a lady justice with seeing, compassionate eyes, because the blindfolded woman has proven to be blind, deaf, and dumb to our cries.
The federal investigation sought to determine whether the evidence of the events that led to Martin’s death were sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman’s actions violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes, specifically Section 3631 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code or Section 249 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, as well as other relevant federal criminal statutes. Section 3631 criminalizes willfully using force or threat of force to interfere with a person’s federally protected housing rights on account of that person’s race or color. Section 249 criminalizes willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of that person’s actual or perceived race. Courts define “willfully” to require proof that a defendant knew his acts were unlawful, and committed those acts in open defiance of the law. It is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law.
(My bold)
Again, I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that a number of these elements were eminently provable.
The federal investigation examined whether Zimmerman violated civil rights statutes at any point during his interaction with Martin, from their initial encounter through the fatal shooting. This included investigating whether there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman violated Section 3631 by approaching Martin in a threatening manner before the fatal shooting because of Martin’s race and because he was using the residential neighborhood. Investigators also looked at whether there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman violated Section 3631 or Section 249, by using force against Martin either during their struggle or when shooting Martin, because of Martin’s race.
I need to get this through my thick skull: There will be no indictment of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin. There will be no indictment of Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown. There will be no indictment for the murder of...there will be no indictments. There will be no indictments. I want to shout and rage and bawl. The injustice of it all rends my soul and leaves me aching with frustration, and grief and anger. I feel unbridled passion about this injustice.
Case closed. There will be no indictment. Is there no little comfort to be had anywhere?
Melissa Harris-Perry, "I hope he whooped the sh*t out of George Zimmerman."
This hope is all we are left with.
Rest in Peace, Trayvon Martin. We have failed you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Public television needs to continue to serve the entire public. ColorLines: Does PBS Still Care About Indie Films by and About People of Color?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Until] I went to a community screening of a [PBS] film called, “My American Girls: A Dominican Story” [in my early 20s], I had never seen myself on TV before,” audience member Loira Limbal told public television VIPs at a filled-to-capacity New York City theater on Monday. “That was my first time seeing a film about people and stories and neighborhoods that looked like me.”
Now, as director of Firelight Media’s Producers’ Lab, Limbal nurtures young filmmakers of color and her testimony was meant to help safeguard their future broadcast home. Whether PBS will continue to be that home is why filmmakers around the country are now protesting in addition to writing, directing and fundraising.
What follows are snapshots of the unfolding controversy and what it could mean for the communities that depend on filmmakers like Stanley Nelson (“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution”), Byron Hurt (“Soul Food Junkies”) and Julianna Brannum (“ LaDonna Harris: Indian 101”) to document their stories.
Why PBS is so important:
Because PBS regularly works with filmmakers of color. Indie films produced by and for public television are “markedly more diverse” than those produced for HBO, CNN or ESPN, according to a 2014 review of the year prior from the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. Nearly one-third of “Independent Lens” directors were of color, for example, compared to none at CNN and ESPN and 13 percent at HBO.
Photo: Carla Murphy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dori Maynard, Advocate for Media Diversity, Dies at 56. The Grio: Dori Maynard, champion for diversity in journalism, dead at 56
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ori J. Maynard, a journalist and champion of diversity in news coverage, died Tuesday at her Oakland home, the journalism education institute she presided said. She was 56.
The Oakland-based Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education confirmed Maynard’s death in a brief statement posted on its website. It didn’t give a cause of death.
“Dori was an amazing force for good in journalism,” Dawn Garcia, managing director of the Knight Fellowships at Stanford University, told the San Jose Mercury News. Maynard served of the Knight board. “She was the voice that must be heard.”
“When others were shying away from speaking about race, Dori was fearless. She made an amazing difference for so many people,” Garcia added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A candid portrayal of a smoking Moor provides a window into the experience of people of color in the newly emerging nation. The Root: What a Black Man’s Cool, Detached Gaze Says About Race in the Early Days of Italy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the other side of a narrow ledge, a black man looks out from a picture with an air of calm detachment, his reciprocal gaze astutely evaluating the viewer. He holds a small cigar suspended between his head and a small purse lying open before him. The purse’s three opened compartments leave no doubt as to the complete lack of contents within. Lying so close to the viewer’s space, the purse serves as a talisman of the penniless state of the man seated just beyond it.
The painting bears two traditional titles, neither apparently bestowed by the artist himself. One, Rauchender Mohr (“Smoking Moor”), is purely descriptive, while the other, Kassensturz (“Taking Stock”), piques the observer’s interest in the man’s living situation. The objective of such careful observation lies somewhere between the reserve of a formal portrait and the more immediate concern with the fundamentals of painting characteristic of the artist’s sketch or study. The candid portrayal of the smoker also provides a leitmotif for the experience of people of color in the newly emerging nation of Italy.
Painted in a vivid but carefully controlled range of colors, the image of an anonymous black man took form in the studio of Wilhelm Trübner, a young itinerant artist exploring the wider world beyond his native Germany. At this time, only in his early 20s, Trübner had set out to travel and study independently after his tutelage with the influential painter Wilhelm Leibl. In 1872 he arrived in Rome, immersing himself in the works of the Italian Renaissance masters. His sojourn coincided with the nationalist movement known as the Risorgimento, which championed the recovery of a historically fragmented, cultural and political identity for the long-fractured Italian peninsula. Both the artist and his black subject lived within the quickened tempo of life in the recently established national capital.
Wilhelm Trübner, Taking Stock, 1873. Oil on canvas, 61.5 by 49 cm (24 1/4 by 19 1/4 inches).
NIEDERSÄCHSISCHE LANDESGALERIE, HANNOVER, GERMANY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How our transportation system discriminates against the most vulnerable. Slate: America’s Unfair Rules of the Road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the easternmost edge of Lake Erie, where the lake meets the Niagara River, the Peace Bridge connects the United States and Canada. The two-thirds-of-a-mile-long bridge is one of the busiest border crossings between the two countries, connecting Canada’s Fort Erie with Buffalo, New York. Every day, an average of more than 15,000 vehicles, about 3,400 of which are trucks, drive over its steel girders.
In the shadow of the bridge sits a small neighborhood called the West Side, where the asthma rate is more than four times the national average, and residents report a host of other health issues. Advocates say the thousands of trucks driving overhead spew harmful diesel emissions and other particulates into their community. The pollutants hover in the air, are absorbed into buildings and houses, and find their way into the lungs of neighborhood residents, who are primarily people of color. “It’s constant asthma problems on the West Side,” says Sharon Tell, a local resident.
“We have to move past the point where your zip code determines the quality of your life,”
Idling trucks, with their engines running, are a regular presence on residential streets. “You see them park on our streets now, and sleeping overnight,” she says. “It’s so much, and we’re right there.” Tell is one of several residents who wore an air monitor funded through an Environmental Protection Agency grant. Her device collected more than 1.8 times the EPA recommended limit of particle pollutants. Tell could only wear the monitor for eight hours during a single day—the cost of conducting the air quality test is prohibitively expensive—but the result was deeply alarming. According to the EPA’s standards, the recommended limit on particle pollutants should not be “exceeded more than once per year on average over 3 years” (emphasis added).
Far from addressing the community’s concerns, plans are now afoot to expand the Peace Bridge. A proposed expansion of the bridge’s on- and off-ramps will further encroach into the neighborhood’s streets. Residents say their concerns about the constant truck traffic and its deleterious health consequences are being consistently ignored. “We have to move past the point where your zip code determines the quality of your life,” says Virginia Golden, a Buffalo resident and activist.
Race and transportation have long been intertwined, whether it be federally funded highways that plowed through, or isolated, minority neighborhoods; Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott; or segregated streetcars and trolleys. And there has been tremendous progress within the past century, particularly when Brown v. Board of Education struck down “separate but equal,” leading to the eventual desegregation of public transportation. In the 1990s, two pieces of legislation, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, increased community involvement and awareness of civil rights issues in transportation planning. But discrimination, while certainly less overt, remains today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Zimmerman case reveals the limits of the law—and foreshadows the Ferguson outcome. The New Republic: Why Is It So Hard to Prove a Civil Rights Crime?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost three years to the day since the death of Trayvon Martin, the Department of Justice announced it won’t be bringing federal civil rights charges against his killer, George Zimmerman, who in July 2013 was acquitted in a Florida court of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. DOJ noted it found “insufficient evidence” to charge Zimmerman under federal law, and Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that Martin’s “premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface.”
Holder didn’t mention race, but race was certainly a factor prosecutors considered in determining whether to pursue criminal charges against Zimmerman. DOJ rested its theories on two statutes: One is a '60s-era civil rights law enacted as part of the Fair Housing Act, the other is the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. When President Barack Obama enacted the latter, he expressed hope that the new law would “strengthen the protections against crimes based on the color of your skin, the faith in your heart, or the place of your birth,” as well as those predicated on “on gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
It’s a big, expansive statute that was more than a decade in the making—even Holder testified in Congress urging its passage. One of its striking features was its source: According to DOJ, it was passed under “Congress’s Thirteenth Amendment authority to eradicate badges and incidents of slavery.” Since its passage, defendants charged under the law have attempted to challenge its constitutionality, arguing race-motivated violence doesn’t amount to “badges and incidents of slavery.” But courts have rejected those claims and upheld the statute. And rightfully so: The point of updating civil rights laws passed in the wake of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement was to make it easier, not harder, to punish crimes of intolerance.
The non-prosecution of Zimmerman should give you some pause. For one, data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that, in 2012, only one person out of 17 initially investigated under the 2009 law was ultimately convicted. That covers the entire country. Granted, a lot of things can happen from the moment DOJ opens an investigation—plea bargaining, special deals, dropped charges, no charges. But contrast that with the total number of racially motivated incidents reported by state law enforcement agencies to the FBI: 3,297 in 2012. Of those incidents, 66 percent were reported to be motivated by anti-black bias. Though states are free to prosecute those cases under their own laws, there seems to be a disconnect between what’s happening at the state level and what DOJ can do in the most extreme cases.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While African-American police officers are much like their white counterparts in arrest rates, their presence enhances the credibility of the entire police force within the black community. The Root: Yeah, We Do Need More Black Cops.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a recent first-time national interview, during which he openly discussed the tragic shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice at the hands of a troubled white cop, Cleveland’s black police chief, Calvin Williams, strangely snapped back at the notion of more black cops.
“Diversity is always at the forefront of what I’m trying to do in this city,” said Williams, responding to a question from 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker about the fact that majority-black Cleveland is patrolled by a majority-white police force. “But if you come from the premise that only an African American can police other African Americans, then we’re all doomed to failure.”
But the problem with Williams’ answer is that, yeah, Cleveland and many other places like it do need more black cops.
Of course, Chief Williams is correct on one point: More black police officers is not a panacea. As Stanford’s David Slanksy observes in a 2006 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology study: “Black officers shoot just as often as white officers ... arrest just as often as white officers ... are often prejudiced against black citizens.”
But similar studies suggest that, when done correctly, aggressive diversity hiring can be a powerful tool in restoring community confidence in their police departments. Ultimately, confidence is half the battle, especially when considering 52 percent of blacks express less confidence or “just some” in police, rather than the 71 percent of whites who express a “great deal” or “fair amount,” according to the Pew Research Center.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Welcome to the Black Kos Community Front Porch!
Pull up a chair and sit down a while and enjoy the company.