George Zimmerman
I've now read several articles that say the Zimmerman decision was correct, given law and the facts of the case. Apparently the state has to disprove self defense, and if there is only one witness, the shooter, this is hard to do. Also you can apparently start a fight, then decide your life is in danger and use deadly force and this is legitimate self-defense. Scott Lemieux, who writes for the blog Lawyers, Guns and Money, says that the law needs to be rethought, given all the people carrying guns. The people I have read all say that the decision may be correct, but this is no way changes the fact that it's a lot harder for people of color to get justice in this country.
It seems intuitively wrong that an armed man can stalk an unarmed teenager and kill him, and this is not even manslaughter. But that is apparently the law. It seems obvious to me that killing has become too easy.
It seems intuitively wrong that an armed man can stalk an unarmed teenager and kill him, and this is not even manslaughter. But that is apparently the law. It seems obvious to me that killing has become too easy.
posted by Eleanor at 11:05 AM
2 Comments:
How did Zimmerman start the fight? The only injuries discovered were the bullet wound which killed Martin, bruises to Martin's knuckles, and the injuries Zimmerman received from the beating Martin administered him.
The only possible scenarios I see under which Zimmerman is guilty are:
(1) Zimmerman committed assault and battery by grabbing or pushing Martin (but not very hard, as no marks were left on Martin) and then Martin fought back but was shot after inflicting some damage on Zimmerman, or
(2) Zimmerman committed simple assault by credibly threatening Martin, then Martin defended himself, but was shot after inflicting some damage on Zimmerman.
The problem is that there is no actual evidence (direct or circumstantial) that Zimmerman started the fight. There is a lot of (circumstantial) evidence that Martin started the fight.
What is your theory as to what actually happened?
Hi Eleanor:
This whole stand your ground law has done at least two things:
-Taken the "no knock" law, used so effectively by law enforcement to assassinate the Panthers,and move it effectively out-of-doors
-Once again privatized racial terror. It's not just the state arresting and/or assassinating youth of color, but individual citizens with guns.
This is not the commons we need.
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