18-YO Black Teens Beat White Teen Because They "Were Mad Over Trevon Martin"

[BNWriter]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/04/26/teen-charged-with-hate-crime-says-he-was-mad-about-trayvon-martin/?utm_medium=VPH&utm_source=topvph_news&utm_campaign=291171

First, hope this is no D-B.

Second, if the moderators want to move this, feel free. I could not find the Trevon thread.

Third, What a bunch of [FILL IN THE BLANK WITH YOUR FAVORITE CURSE WORD HERE].

The sad part is he and his accomplice will find an attorney brain dead and greedy enough to tell them they have a case.

When does this kind of stupidity come to an end {Rhetorical Question}.

Proceed.....

 

[poindexter]

I think these are the stories the internet was made for (and the original Trayvon case).

 

[king cranium maximus IV]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/04/26/teen-charged-with-hate-crime-says-he-was-mad-about-trayvon-martin/?utm_medium=VPH&utm_source=topvph_news&utm_campaign=291171

First, hope this is no D-B.

Second, if the moderators want to move this, feel free. I could not find the Trevon thread.

Third, What a bunch of [FILL IN THE BLANK WITH YOUR FAVORITE CURSE WORD HERE].

The sad part is he and his accomplice will find an attorney brain dead and greedy enough to tell them they have a case.

When does this kind of stupidity come to an end {Rhetorical Question}.

Proceed.....

So, uh, they shouldn't be allowed the right to legal counsel?

 

[Mark2010]

Treyvon Martin is going to make Rodney King look like a picnic before it's all said and done.

 

[dreunc1542]

Apparently Trayvon is too difficult to spell, even when it's in the first paragraph of the story that's linked.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I am angry at the hypothetical doctor somewhere that may at some point commit malpractice for, potentially, nefarious reasons.

 

[heyabbott]

No Justice, No Peace. It isn't just an empty promise anymore.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

We've had things on the news warning (trying to scare) people from going downtown because of "an increase in black-on-white crime because of the Martin case..."

I don't know that I fully buy it, but a lot of people definitely do..." I fear there will be more stories like this one over the next few months...

 

[User 11148]

Two points: 1) I think it's ludicrous that there's such a thing as hate crime laws. This kid, assuming he's guilty, will (or should) be punished aplenty for what he did, not what he was thinking about while he was doing it (or, more plausibly, what he came up with as a justification for why he did it); 2) For what purpose (other than trouble) is a 15-year-old (or 18-year-old or 19-year-old) doing out and about at 1 a.m. on a Tuesday night (actually Wednesday morning)?

 

[imjustagirl]

Apparently Trayvon is too difficult to spell, even when it's in the first paragraph of the story that's linked.

+1

 

[bigpern23]

Two points: 1) I think it's ludicrous that there's such a thing as hate crime laws. This kid, assuming he's guilty, will (or should) be punished aplenty for what he did, not what he was thinking about while he was doing it (or, more plausibly, what he came up with as a justification for why he did it); 2) For what purpose (other than trouble) is a 15-year-old (or 18-year-old or 19-year-old) doing out and about at 1 a.m. on a Tuesday night (actually Wednesday morning)?

I could not agree with this more. It's absolute lunacy to punish thought instead of crime.

 

[Azrael]

If we don't punish certain kinds of thought, why is the penalty greater for premeditation in a murder case?

 

[User 11148]

If we don't punish certain kinds of thought, why is the penalty greater for premeditation in a murder case?

It's the premeditation that makes it a murder. Otherwise it's some other form of homicide.

 

[Azrael]

If we don't punish certain kinds of thought, why is the penalty greater for premeditation in a murder case?

It's the premeditation that makes it a murder. Otherwise it's some other form of homicide.

The point is that we already take 'thought' into consideration when fashioning laws and punishments.

 

[Beaker]

Criminal law doesn't exist in a moral vacuum. The law makes judgments about what crimes are worse, and that includes considerations of motivation or "thought."

 

[YGBFKM]

Crimes that fit nicely into a social/political/ideological narrative are the most heinous. All others are not very important.

 

[dixiehack]

We can reasonably infer premeditation. (or lack of same) from the actions taken by the accused. Little trickier to affirm "feelings" that trigger actions taken prior yo commission of the crime.

 

[User 11148]

The point is that you are guilty of murder if you are guilty of murder, which implies the whole "malice aforethought" bit. That is, if you went to your cupboard, pulled out a pistol, loaded it, stuck it into your waistband, then drove across town and confronted and then shot this guy who'd been effing you over, it's pretty obvious it wasn't a crime of passion and coincidence. So, yes, mindset plays a role. But that's a non-sequiter in this issue, because mindset's frequently a consideration in criminal cases (c.f., perjury).

On the other hand, if you'd done all the above so you could knock off some guy of a race other than yours because, in part, he's of a race other than yours, you'd still be guilty of murder, but you'd also be guilty of a hate crime. We'd just be punishing you -- assuming we did -- because, somehow, we feel there are some reasons to commit murder that are worse than others. But that's ridiculous, because we've said all along that you can't commit murder. It's like saying, "OK, this guy's a murderer, but he's also a racist!" Who gives a rat's patootie? He's a murderer!

 

[User 4332]

If we don't punish certain kinds of thought, why is the penalty greater for premeditation in a murder case?

It's the premeditation that makes it a murder. Otherwise it's some other form of homicide.

Premeditation is the difference between first- and second-degree murder, not murder and other forms of homicide.

And the point that homicide law in particular focuses on the mens rea (state of mind) of the defendant at the time of the crime is an apt analogy to the justification behind elevating one form of assault over another based on the defendant's state of mind at the time of the assault.

 

[Dick Whitman]

We can reasonably infer premeditation. (or lack of same) from the actions taken by the accused.

I've always thought it odd that the brutality of a murder helps make it first-degree murder instead of second-degree or manslaughter.

Seems to me like a crime committed in anger or spur of the moment would be more likely, not less, to be brutal. And that a premeditated murder would be more likely to be clean and quick.