1.5 Million Signatures on a Petition to Charge Trayvon Martin’s Murderer
March 24, 2012 § 4 Comments
This article documents the media attention Trayvon’s death has received, and the pressure on police to charge George Zimmerman.
I think the fact that Trayvon’s story has quickly entered the mainstream media is good news. Social Media may be one of the new faces of justice.
genderculture 
I saw the Journal and Courier had the front page devoted to the Trayvon Martin case one day this week. That’s very encouraging, and it’s incredible how rapid the flow of information across vast social and geographical gaps has become. I just hope that Zimmerman is charged soon. It’s shameful that it’s taken this long, and after 1.5 million petitioners and intense national scrutiny, the state of Florida still hasn’t done anything. I suppose it’s not that surprising, considering this is the same state that “lost” a substantial number of predominantly black votes in the 2000 presidential election and then never bothered to remedy the situation.
Also, here is the tea party governor Rick Scott’s response. Really warms yer heart… http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/rick-scott-governor-trayvon-martin-response
The situation as a whole is tragic. I think there is a serious danger of rushing to charge Mr. Zimmerman with a crime. The first question is what to charge him with. 1st degree murder, 2nd degree, negligent homicide? From what is being reported it may be that this horrible act fell within the letter of the law but not the spirit, and that creates a difficult situation. No matter how awful the act we can not enforce laws through public opinion. A few years ago a doctor famous for his vocal support of abortion rights and for being willing to perform procedures was shot and killed in his church. To many this killing was seen as justified because it would save the “lives” of fetuses. If I refuse to let the morals of others influence that case I must not let mine influence this one.
I am in no way defending Mr. Zimmerman’s actions. If he acted within the law it shows the danger in passing these incredibly broadly written self defense laws. But the standing laws are what they are and justice must be blind to the morality of actions.
Remember, however, there was no “rush” to charge George Zimmerman, and in fact many of the protests involving this case dealt with the fact that the police waited nearly two months to properly investigate this case and eventually charge George Zimmerman. It seemed like a “rush” because of the ways news cycles work and the way most of us became familiar with the case. But it was nearly a month after Trayvon Martin had been murdered that most of the American public knew about the case, and another several weeks after before he was arrested. For his devastated parents, this certainly was no rush. The wheels of justice turn very slowly, if at all, for certain people.