Posted on 08/27/2021 2:28:33 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
A Florida judge on Thursday rejected a self-defense claim by a white man accused of pulling a gun and yelling racial slurs in a traffic confrontation with a group of Black teenagers protesting housing inequality on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2019.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian ruled following a two-day hearing that Mark Bartlett, 54, of Broward County, did not act reasonably in getting out of his SUV and pulling a pistol on the teenage protesters who had stopped traffic near the Brickell Bridge in downtown Miami, the Miami Herald reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
True story: local Miami media is giving this procedure in court MORE ATTENTION than the murder of Americans in Afghanistan.
Society would be better off if the concept of “self-defense” were seen in very broad and forgiving terms. An armed society is a polite society. Don’t mess with people or there might be trouble. And a proper court should shrug and say (to the survivors) “You messed with the wrong guy”.
“Your Honor, he needed killing” should still be a valid defense.
As for idiots blocking blocking streets and highways, the ACLU has been busy. Laws with teeth were defeated in twenty states. Those laws would have prevented protesters from blocking traffic and protected drivers who hit protesters in some circumstances.
As a result only four states, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee, have laws against traffic blockage.
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/rights-protesters/anti-protest-bills-around-country
By what authority do these “teenagers” stop traffic?
There is a Constitutional right to travel. It is an essential part of liberty. When states make it legal for some to deny that right to others, than they should be sued ifor denial of rights under color of law.
Jury nullification.
Might as well say “your highness” or “your majesty” instead of “your honor.”
“There is a Constitutional right to travel. It is an essential part of liberty.”
I agree.
Then on interstate and US highways the Commerce Clause could be used. Those closing down interstate and US highways are interfering with interstate commerce.
The FedGov uses the CC for everything else.
White is automatically guilty now. The new reality.
“Might as well say “your highness” or “your majesty” instead of “your honor.”
Too true.
I’ve seen a few judges who acted like they were Crowned Heads passing judgement on the serfs. And those were in traffic court! Made me wonder how the judges in higher courts acted.
True, but there are also two other Constitutional uses I had in mind:
1) The implied right to travel anywhere as an essential part of liberty
2) Any motorist on any road being blocked could claim they were on their way to another state, a right expressly guaranteed in The Constitution.
I completely agree with both your points.
I was just pointing out that if one truck is delayed the feds could invoke the Commerce Clause and take it out of state hands. But on reflection, the feds might be just as bad as the states.
Yes, sadly the notion that any courts - state, federal or all the way up to SCOTUS - can be counted on to protect our rights, lately seems to fall into the realm of wishful thinking.
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