Posted on 05/04/2005 10:27:33 AM PDT by LauraleeBraswell
Edited on 05/04/2005 10:34:24 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
The FBI seems to think the witnesses are credible.
There's no statute of limitations involved, a different arguement.
You're suggesting non-prosecution, clearly the prosecutions option, so as not to inflame racial tensions?
Racial tension shouldn't be the factor in the decision, but it seems to me passing on prosecution is more likely to inflame tensions, rightly of that's the basis of the decision.
I am not speaking of any case in particular, but if say they found some 90 year old Black Man who had participated in a racial crime 55 years ago, and had not been causing trouble since, then I think I would just say "leave him alone".
Most articles agree that he definitely showed friends a picture of a white female friend from Chicago, unheard of in their circle, acted on a dare, definitely talked to the white woman (a grocery store clerk I believe), may have (I believe it) whistled. Called he "babe"? someone said he "touched her"? So far no one is coming up with anything that remotely mitigates a clearly premeditated murder.
There are black on white race crimes in Jackson at least weekly.
Hardly a peep about that other than to call them crimes of opportunity.
I wish there was equal concern here but that doesn't take away from prosecuting all capital crimes when new evidence arises.
Prosecuting via new procedures has always bothered me. It's de facto double jeopardy though many here will argue that for a few hundred replies worth of rancor.
Two options then. A statute of limitations, which I personally don't agree with, but I understand where supporters are coming from. Or taking the 55 peaceful years of the perp in your example into consideration both in sentencing and in plea bargaining. I just don't think you can "ignore" credible (nothing I've seen suggests it isn't) evidence of a crime of this severity.
If every felony were prosecuted we would all be in jail.
And I don't out-of-hand believe just whistling was enough to inspire premeditated murder.
There is an excerpt to a newspaper account from the Commercial Appeal I think earlier in the thread.
I assume you're talking about federal civil rights prosecution. I found that troublesome in the past, but perhaps legitimate in terms of righting a wrong, the Cheny, Schwerner, Goodman murders clearly come to mind.
When OJ wasn't charged, actually charges weren't even considered, in a different but equally high profile racially charged case, I realized that legal or not, morally justified or not, we don't have a system up to the task of making the decision.
To my knowledge, that's not an issue here, I believe we're talking about potential murder charges filed by the good State of Mississippi. A long time after the crime, but plain vanilla.
That's a strawman, I don't believe we'd all be in jail. Prosecutorial judgement is legitimate. I think we're talking by each other since I don't think we know enough of the facts of the case. This could be A and B admitted to murder, and C says "I think I saw D with them that day". Then again, C and D could have confessed to a crime and, hopefully, asked for mercy based on their exemplary lives. I don't think we know enough to criticize a judgement on prosection, which sounds like it's going ahead.
Right, racially motivated and even random murder doesn't exist. You really need to come up with something better than that.
You assumed correctly of course.
And left wing media propaganda doesn't exist either.
No, left wing media bias, even propaganda exists, as does both racially motivated murder and random murder, as I noted. I don't see left wing bias here. He's dead. The killers walked. New eyewitness testimony has been found. It's been reported. I presume the facts offend you, they offend me too, I despise murderers, but where's the bias?
"He only whistled."
No, he spoke to the white lady too. If you're suggesting he's somehow culpable for his murder, time to explain it. If you've got non public information, stop posting and call your local FBI office.
Good point....
No.
But I am saying I do not know what happened, and because we are told so little of what he did and so much of what was done to him, I smell a rat.
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