The system is unfair, but the Zimmerman jury got it right
Jul 15, 2013, 12:00 PM | Updated: 12:00 pm
Yes, the system is unfair.
The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world; including the restrictive nations of China and Russia. More than two million people are currently in prison across the country. Another five million are under state supervision.
Blacks are imprisoned at much higher rates than whites and Latinos. Some numbers say as many as 1 in 15 black men are currently in prison. One in 36 Latino men share the same fate while only 1 in 106 white men are incarcerated. There are some encouraging signs things are moving in the opposite direction, but the system is still skewed.
Another study says black men are more likely to go to prison for low level offenses than whites. Much of that is due to America’s war on drugs. Blacks are also much more likely to receive longer prison sentences than whites even when facing similar charges.
The proof is there.
Even in America’s schools, black students across the country are suspended at the highest rates.
But, in the case of State of Florida versus George Zimmerman the justice system worked.
Here’s the bottom line. The state of Florida did not — and perhaps could not — prove Zimmerman was not acting in self-defense.
No matter how upset people are over the result, the reasonable doubt principle remains the same. State of Florida prosecutors could not meet that burden.
No one saw the beginning of the fight between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Witnesses who watched after hearing the commotion offered different accounts about what happened. One witness testified that he saw what appeared to be Trayvon Martin on top of George Zimmerman.
A defense witness backed up this claim saying the evidence showed that was the position the 17-year-old was in when he was shot and killed. A tragic end to Trayvon Martin’s story.
But, the jury had no other choice. The state of Florida did not prove their case. And the bigger travesty would have been to convict George Zimmerman based on emotions. The justice system is never supposed to work that way.
