George Zimmerman’s MO has nothing on the US justice system. High school freshman Philip Chism is accused of murdering Boston teacher Colleen Ritzer. Though he’s only 14, Chism is being arraigned as an adult. The media is playing it down but Philip Chism is black. You’d think somewhere in America, district attorneys want to prosecute an African American juvenile AS A juvenile because, you know, Obama and shit. Neatly bookending this story today, white felon and Kennedy kin Michael Skakel, has been granted a retrial. Skakel was 39 when the law finally caught up with him, but Skakel was TRIED AS A JUVENILE (AT 39) because he was 15 when the murder was committed. In a further flaunting of priviledge, the judge granted Skakel a retrail because the judge decided his original defense must have been inadequate. That should set quite a precedent for anyone who’s been failed by a public defender, which would be EVERYBODY! But probably this precedent will only apply to everybody who’s white, and a Kennedy.
Grace is only afforded to juveniles who are white, consistent with Western disregard for the children of the Global South whose adult worklife begins even before puberty.
Not My Tribe
The Myth of Middle Ground
In my hometown (Memphis) Teenage killers (black) are routinely charged as juveniles. You shouldn’t make false blanket statements on issues you have no real knowledge about, particularly statistics on sentencing standards based on age and race. My stepfather and 72 yr old great aunt were murdered by a 14 yr old black boy in a home invasion robbery – he was charged as a juvenile.
The stories that make national/international headlines are generally the worst crimes, where ANY juvenile killer is more likely to be tried as an adult. Comparing this to the skakel case is obscene. There wasn’t even any physical evidence, it was completely circumstantial – she wasn’t raped, etc. If this boy had ‘gotten angry’ and beat a girl in the head with a golf club, there was no physical evidence or video images – he probably would be tried as a juvenile, but this was TOTALLY different.
The reason this piece of garbage is being charged as an adult is because he didn’t just kill somebody and he didn’t just ‘shoot’ somebody or punch them in the head. He raped, then slit the throat of his teacher, dumped her body in the woods and jammed a 3 foot stick up her vagina, cleaned up the crime scene and then went to the movies.
What about that 15 yr old and 17 yr old brothers who strangled that white 13 yr old girl to death for bicycle parts. The 17 yr old got off & 15 yr old was charged as a juvenile. Guess you missed that one. Or maybe you didn’t and you’re just a biased complainer and liar who cherry picks stories to emphasis your propaganda.
In a case in Memphis, a 16 yr old boy shot and killed a 37 yr old man. Other circumstances unknown to me. Charged as a juvenile & released in 6 months to 1 year.
Before he was 18 he had been arrested after being caught riding in a stolen car with weed & a gun – charged as juvenile & released. Charged for smashed a women in her 30’s in the face with a baseball bat, shattering her jaw & almost killing her, RELEASED AGAIN (Juvenile)
In 2009 at age 18 he was arrested for the armed robbery & shootings of 5 local men who were playing dice behind a house. He & his buddies, ages 16 to 19, came from around both sides of the house & started shooting-no warning.
One man, who had been shot in the gut, said the boy stared right into his eyes as he aimed the gun to shoot him in the head – but the gun jammed. That victim was Antonio Burkes, a Memphis basketball player whose career was ended, spent several months in the hospital, had 3 major surgeries and 21 minor surgeries from the shooting. He had to use a wheelchair for a long time & now has a permanent limp. One of robbers was 16 yrs old. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jun/29/former-memphis-tiger-antonio-burks-says-hell-alway/
This boy, now 18, had already murdered a man, beat a woman in the face/head with a baseball bat, been caught with drugs, been caught with an illegal gun, been caught in a stolen car – why the hell was he even walking the streets? If he had been charged as an adult for any of his previous crimes he would not have shot Antonio.
FYI, he received a 97 year sentence for this, but that doesn’t bring back Burkes’ life.
Sorry, this 14-year-old boy is innocent of being a “piece of garbage” until proven guilty! What doesn’t need proving is that he’s only 14. As an enlightened society taking responsibility for breeding systemic criminality, we accord our juveniles special legal protection, which should include protection from coerced confessions. I’ll add, whatever legal advantages are extended to rich white 39 year olds should especially be granted to impoverished, disadvantaged youth, far, far disproportionately black.
Btw, if there is no comparing Skakel to Chism, it’s because Skakel is appealing his conviction, and Chism’s crime is still only alleged. Or is that just a technicality to your way of thinking?
Please save your “something you know nothing about” reductionist argument for other blogs you’re trolling. Ignorance racist indignation like yours won’t find fans here.
It’s rare, R.SMITH than anyone is given real or full knowledge of statistical trends, we’re all left to interpret and apply conclusions based on our observations. To my mind, the limited glimpse the media offers us is a central component of the whole skewed picture. Not knowing everything shouldn’t hold us back from thinking as critically as we can about it. Apparently your crime-porn perspective fuels a bloodthirst. I’m happy not to be similarly obsessed.
It’s quite obvious that adult males of dark-skin races are vicious and lazy, just like those african wild lives we see on documentaries, unless someone has no common sense what repeat history is about, or has colour blinds problem could not tell the difference and still defend for them and treat them as human kinds, accused others of being racists.
To cut down unnecessary violence created by such races, need to propagate to the entire planet to educate the young ones, and stop this dark-skin people from migrating to other well-behaved countries; they should be contained in africa and india or places the like before they destroy your homelands.
Check out the following link, written by indian news agency, for the indian men…..
http://www.ndtv.com/topic/man-kills-wife/news/page-4
Give the bastard the big needle!