Trayvon Martin

[The Exploding Vole]

Trayvon Martin

A friend e-mails me from my hometown in Wisconsin:

We are overwhelmed with horror on the news and radio. Young black men with hoodies are going to kill us in our homes. I noticed in town people are calling police when they see kids wearing hoodies in their neighborhood after dark. No kidding! That is proof to me people are glued to Fox News.

It has gone so far wrong there are no words.

[ursus arctos]

Trayvon Martin

Washington Post reporting that Zimmerman will be charged, perhaps as early as this afternoon.

[Furtho]

Trayvon Martin

A teacher gets sacked for organising a Trayvon Martin fundraiser, here.

[ursus arctos]

Trayvon Martin

Zimmerman reportedly in custody, will be charged with second degree murder.

[WOM]

Trayvon Martin

Good. Hopefully he'll find out how the criminal justice system is supposed to operate.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Trayvon Martin

Michael Bloomberg tears the NRA a new one:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/11/michael-bloomberg-nra-gun-control

[Ginger Yellow]

Trayvon Martin

Chutzpah redefined, again.

In trying to portray his client in as sympathetic terms as possible, Zimmerman’s new attorney Mark O’Mara said this evening that Zimmerman is “troubled by everything that has happened.” O’Mara added, “Truly, it must be frightening to not be able to go into a 7/11 or into a store and literally to be in fact a prisoner wherever he was.”

[Sean of the Shed]

Trayvon Martin

I don't know about the law in America, but I'd imagine if this happened in Britain (current UK gun law withstanding) they would almost certainly claim that the media coverage of this incident would prevent their client from receiving a fair trial.

[ursus arctos]

Trayvon Martin

The defence will certainly make that claim in this proceeding, assuming that it goes to a trial (the procedure in Florida is unusual, the initial hearing is before a judge, who can essentially pre-empt a trial). Should that happen, the most likely remedy is a "change of venue", i.e., moving the trial to another county in Florida in which the publicity has been less intense.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

Trayvon Martin

But... the coverage has been national, surely? Unless you mean Disneyland, they may have been focused on other things there.

[The Exploding Vole]

Trayvon Martin

I have mixed feelings on holding a murder trial at Disneyland.

[Incandenza]

Trayvon Martin

Disneyland is not in Florida.

[Flynnie]

Trayvon Martin

Jimmy Bignutz wrote:

But... the coverage has been national, surely? Unless you mean Disneyland, they may have been focused on other things there.

Obviously, but another county may give a better chance to find jurors who don't have fixed opinions one way or the other. I'm sure in the county they are in, it's figuratively the only thing people are talking about.

[WOM]

Trayvon Martin

If my ex-partner (work, not life) is anything to go by, there are a lot of people who've heard absolutely nothing about even the most widespread of headline stories. They live, quite happily, in oblivion. And I'd imagine they'd make ideal jurors.

[ursus arctos]

Trayvon Martin

That's true, but you have the added complication of people having some personal connection to the relevant parties (the local police, prosecutors, homeowner's association, Community Watches, etc.) that would effectively bar them from serving.

If you move the trial to the Panhandle, those conflicts are much less likely.

It's worth noting that the US and UK differ radically in their approach to the entire subject of "publicity" both pre-trial and during trial. This kind of coverage is not unusual for a high profile case over here.

[caja-dglh]

Trayvon Martin

Worn Old Motorbike wrote:

If my ex-partner (work, not life) is anything to go by

What if we go by your ex life-partner?

[WOM]

Trayvon Martin

I have no ex life-partners. I'm like a swan...or a goose ...or whatever it is that only mates once, for life.

If she dies or leaves me, I slowly starve to death or something.

Maybe it's baby seals that separate from their mothers and starve to death.

Clearly I've not been paying enough attention to wildlife documentaries.

But my ex work-partner, now he was ill-informed, that one.

[Paul S]

Trayvon Martin

I think this is probably the right time to raise something that has bothered me about the US justice system and that is the concept of Life Without Parole (LWOP). A couple of weeks ago a 17 year old black youth was sentenced to LWOP for murdering two British tourists. His sentence really does mean the rest of his natural life behind bars. I mean - what the hell is the point in locking up a teenager for this rest of his natural life? What will be achieved by locking him up for 60 or 70 years that they won't achieve in 40 years? Or 30, or 25, or even dare I say it, 22 years?

The Zimmerman case is another one. Let us assume for arguments sake that he is guilty of second degree murder - what would be achieved from an LWOP sentence? If I were on the jury of such a case it would make me think twice about returning a guilty verdict knowing it would condemn someone to LWOP. On the other hand if I knew that a guilty verdict would result in a 15-20 year sentence, I would be far more likely to find guilty.

Anyone else troubled by LWOP?

[Bored Of Education]

Trayvon Martin

I think you would find it would be popular amongst the general public in the UK. There again, the death penalty is, as well.

Yes, though, you are right, there are so few cases that genuinely deserve it, it and the death penalty are such bad deterrents, it is so expensive and, obviously, there is no rehabilitative benefit that it should be scrapped. That is leaving aside the disproportionate amount of black males that are in the prison system anyway over there.

Anyway, leaving aside LWOP, what about 40 years in solitary confinement?

[Flynnie]

Trayvon Martin

LWOP is difficult for me. It doesn't achieve much, yet I just can't harbor empathy for a kid who wasted two people. Just because you're 17 doesn't mean you're incapable of distinguishing right from wrong.

Solitary confinement is clearly wrong and is being used punitively in a lot of US prisons. Its only benefit is for prisoners who are an imminent danger to others.

[Bored Of Education]

Trayvon Martin

LWOP is difficult for me. It doesn't achieve much, yet I just can't harbor empathy for a kid who wasted two people.

Forget empathy. What about good to society? You are basically saying that there is no chance of rehabilitating this kid or that you aren't going to bother. In saying that, you are saying that you are going to cost the taxpayer 40 grand a year to keep him in there for the rest of his life.

Obviously, some people do well out of this

[The Exploding Vole]

Trayvon Martin

It's when I hear someone favour the death penalty over prison because "our hard-earned tax dollars shouldn't be supporting these people" that I am driven close to despair.

[Bruno]

Trayvon Martin

I thought the main justification was to ensure that the person never harmed anyone else. I don't think anyone has invented a repeatable method for rehabilitation.

[ursus arctos]

Trayvon Martin

That is the justification, and if the choice is between LWOP and the death penalty (as it often is in our more bloodthirsty states), I'm clearly in favour of the former.

The general public in the US and the politicians that take their cues from them are extraordinarily skeptical of the possibility that rehabilitation works for violent criminals. Academics who have studied the subject are mixed in their views, but it is the public skepticism that lies at the heart of our failure to integrate former felons. It's very much a vicious circle.

BTW, my understanding is that LWOP is not an option in the Zimmerman case. He can get life if convicted, but would still be eligible for parole.

[Bruno]

Trayvon Martin

The problem is it would only take one recidivist murderer who had been released after 'rehabilitation' to fatally undermine the project.