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Title: Justice Department weighing civil rights case after Zimmerman cleared of all charges
Source:
Fox
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201 ... o-pursue-zimmerman-civil-case/
Published: Jul 14, 2013
Author: Fox
Post Date: 2013-07-14 19:57:30 by We The People
Keywords: None
Views: 3035
Comments: 10
The Justice Department said Sunday that it will review the George Zimmerman case for possible civil rights violations, after a jury acquitted the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. As Zimmerman's attorney cautioned that his client's safety is at risk, the Justice Department responded to appeals from NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous and several lawmakers to keep investigating the defendant. The department may find itself in a vulnerable spot. Last week, a conservative watchdog accused an obscure agency within the DOJ of helping support the "pressure campaign" against Zimmerman in the wake of the shooting last year. Judicial Watch claimed documents and public accounts showed "extraordinary intervention" by the department in the campaign that eventually led to Zimmerman's prosecution. The department, however, claims that it dispatched agency representatives to reduce tensions in the community – not to take sides. President Obama himself caused a stir last year by remarking in the days after the shooting that if he had a son, he would “look like Trayvon.” On Sunday, however, Obama urged calm and declared, “the jury has spoken.” The Justice Department, in announcing it would examine possible civil rights violations, said it has already been reviewing the handling of the criminal case in which Zimmerman, a Hispanic, fatally shot Martin, a black teen, in February 2012, raising concerns about such issues as racial profiling. "The Department of Justice's Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to evaluate the evidence generated during the federal investigation, as well as the evidence and testimony from the state trial," the Justice Department said in a statement Sunday. "Experienced federal prosecutors will [now] determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction, and whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance with the Department's policy governing successive federal prosecution following a state trial." Jealous started the drive to pressure the DOJ to continue its probe by posting a petition Sunday morning on the website MoveOn.org that was addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder. "The most fundamental of civil rights -- the right to life -- was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin," Jealous wrote in the petition. An all-female six-member jury announced late Saturday that it found Zimmerman ‘not guilty’ of all counts against him, which included charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Jealous told CNN’s “State of the Union on Sunday morning, “There is reason to be concerned that race was a factor in why (Zimmerman) targeted young Trayvon.” He also said he has not spoken directly with Holder but has spoken to his senior people. “We are glad that what they began months back continues, which is a serious reviewing of everything that came out in this case, everything that was known before this case,” Jealous said. Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged the Justice Department to review federal charges against Zimmerman. “I think the Justice Department is going to take a look at this,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “This isn’t over with and I think that’s good.” The Rev. Al Sharpton on the same show condemned the “stand your ground” law under which Zimmerman won acquittal, adding of his plans, "I will convene an emergency call with preachers tonight to discuss next steps and I intend to head to Florida in the next few days." Meanwhile, Mark O'Mara, who defended Zimmerman at trial, suggested his client’s safety was at risk. "There still is a fringe element that wants revenge," O'Mara said. "They won't listen to a verdict of not guilty." In August 2012, O'Mara said Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, had been living like hermits and weren't working because they feared for their safety. After Saturday's verdict, police, officials and civil rights leaders urged peace and told protesters not to resort to violence. Demonstrators across America rallied against Zimmerman on Sunday. Most of the protests were peaceful, but in cities like Oakland, Calif., there were reports of vandalism. "I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son," Obama said in a statement Sunday.
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#1. To: nolu chan, sneakypete (#0)
Now a grand jury will be convened?
Of New Black Panthers...
Yup,and everyone one of them will be a handpicked leftist racist that hates white people and people with guns. The hell of it is they know they don't really have a case,but they don't care because this is 100 percent political,not criminal. They are going to "win" by keeping the natives restless and on the Dim Plantation,even if they lose the court case. They literally have nothing to lose. BTW,has there EVER been a better name for a Tan Klan leader than "Ben Jealous"?
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Heard OJ dream team lawyer and extreme lefty Alan Dershowitz say he thought there WAS a civil rights case that should come out of this... but it should be against prosecutor Angela Corey. The MoveOn/NAACP desire to see George Zimmerman prosecuted on civil rights violations will run into a pair of steel walls. One, the FBI investigated Zimmerman last year and found no evidence of racism. Two, Zimmerman was not a government official on the night of the shooting of Trayvon Martin. He was a volunteer neighborhood watch captain. Civil rights charges typically only apply to government officials, such as the police officers involved in the 1992 Rodney King trials. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says a civil rights case in the Zimmerman trial is in order, but not against George Zimmerman. Appearing on Fox’s Huckabee show over the weekend, Dershowitz says Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey is the one who violated an individual’s civil rights in this case. “What she did is she filed a false affidavit before the judge in order to get a second degree murder charge,” Dershowitz said, “failed to tell the judge that there were photographs and failed to show the photographs that demonstrated that Zimmerman’s nose had been broken, that he had wounds in the back of his head. She misled the judge into giving her an overcharge second degree murder charge against Zimmerman. That is a true violation of civil rights.” Dershowitz added that the rest of the case was “routine” and “reasonable doubt was written all over this case.”
I also heard that Zimmerman voted for Obama. Ironic.
WRONG! They only apply to heterosexual white males and government officials who happen to be white males. We see and read about discrimination against whites by minority government officials on a daily basis,and nothing is ever done about it. Hell,point out the FACT that the Civil Wrongs Act of 1964 created special classes of citizens with rights and protections not granted to other citizens,and you get demonized and called a racist.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Yeah,but that was back when he still thought he as a His-Panic,and a member of a protected species. Now the media has branded him as a white man,so I doubt he would do it again if he had the chance.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
Now a suspended investigation continues until whenever. A grand jury may be convened. I'm doubtful the Justice Dept will find they have a case they can prosecute. Then again, if motivated, they can creatively invent a case with jurisdiction and they have near unlimited resources.
[sneakypete] WRONG! They only apply to heterosexual white males and government officials who happen to be white males. A civil rights case has been successfully prosecuted against a black defendant who was acquitted by a New York State court. Some may recall the Crown Heights case. It's the Feds. They found that the victim, Yankel Rosenbaum, was "using a facility administered by the state, in this case, the streets of Brooklyn." Using a facility administered by the state is relevant to the statute. Note that in the Zimmerman case it was in a gated community and I believe those three streets are administed by the homeowner's association, not any governmental entity. When motivated, the Feds can be creative. http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/crm/selcases.php On the evening of August 19, 1991, a station wagon struck two children in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, New York. The driver of the car was Jewish, and both children were African American. A crowd soon gathered at the scene of the accident. As some of its members tried to help the injured children, others began to attack the driver of the car. The first ambulance to arrive, which came from a Jewish hospital, treated and, at the direction of the police, transported the injured driver to the hospital. Soon after the first ambulance departed, two additional ambulances treated and transported the seriously injured African American children to the hospital, where one ultimately died. By the time the children were transported from the scene of the accident, a crowd of several hundred people had formed. About three hours after the accident, Charles Price, an African American man, began to address the crowd and concluded his speech with calls to “get the Jews.” The crowd then began to turn violent, and headed to a predominantly Jewish commercial street. After attacking several Jewish people, the crowd came upon Yankel Rosenbaum, a bearded man in orthodox Jewish dress. A member of the crowd, possibly Price, yelled “get' em” and “there goes one.” Someone else in the crowd was also heard to shout “get the Jew, kill the Jew.” A group of ten to fifteen people began beating Rosenbaum, including Lemrick Nelson. A police car arrived and Nelson tried to flee along with the other assailants of Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum grabbed hold of Nelson’s clothing, and Nelson fatally stabbed Rosenbaum in order to get away. Nelson was tried in New York State Court on a number of charges, including second-degree murder. In October 1992, a state jury acquitted Nelson of all charges. Following Nelson’s acquittal, Nelson and Price were indicted on federal charges in August 1996. Nelson was charged with violating 18 USC § 245, which protects citizens who are engaging in federally protected activities such as using a facility administered by the state, in this case, the streets of Brooklyn. Price was charged both with violating 18 USC § 245(b)(2)(B) and with violating 18 USC § 2 by aiding and abetting Nelson’s violation of 18 USC § 245(b)(2)(B). On February 10, 1997, following 20 hours of deliberations over a four day period, the federal jury convicted both Nelson and Price on all charges. Nelson was sentenced to 234 months in prison and Price was sentenced to 262 months in prison. Nelson and Price both appealed, arguing that 18 USC § 245(b)(2)(B) was unconstitutional and that the jury selection process, which had been manipulated by the trial court to achieve a racial balance, resulted in an unfair trial, among other things. In January 2002, the Court of Appeals concluded that 18 USC § 245(b)(2)(B) is constitutional as applied to Nelson and Price; however, the court held that the district court erred in empaneling the jury. As a result, the decision of the district court was vacated, and remanded for retrial before a properly chosen jury. In April 2002, Price entered a guilty plea to violating 18 U.S.C. §245 and was sentenced to 140 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. On May 14, 2003, a federal jury again convicted Nelson on charges of violating 18 U.S.C. §245(b)(2)(B). Nelson was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Prosecutions of Lemrick Nelson, Jr., by Alan Vinegrad, New York Law Journal, Volume 229, No. 99; Friday, May 23, 2003. Alan Vinegrad was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. He was one of the federal prosecutors who tried the case discussed in this law journal article.
Eric Holder and the Department of Justice are ON THEIR OWN in this one, except for maybe...Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, The New Black Panthers...and the NAACP! ~ murron ************************************************ Holder had cautioned in subsequent remarks that the DOJ faces a “very high barrier” when seeking to bring federal criminal charges in such cases. The decision to act against Zimmerman after a jury acquitted him could also put Holder again at odds with Republican lawmakers, with whom he has had a contentious relationship. The House voted him in contempt last year after he failed to turn over documents subpoenaed in a probe of the ATF’s botched gun-tracking program, Operation Fast and Furious. Holder has also faced congressional anger over the DOJ’s probe of journalists over national security leaks, including questions about whether he lied when testifying before Congress that he was unaware of efforts to prosecute reporters. ************************************ THE HILL: GOP Rep. Harris wants people to 'get over it' on Zimmerman case verdict Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) : In response to the ruling, the Justice Department (DOJ) is considering whether to press federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman in relation to the case. Harris said the Justice Department would be acting on political motivations if it pressed civil rights charges against Zimmerman. "I have to tell you, that would be purely political and we would have to look at ways to reign in the Justice Department (DOJ)," Harris said. "Again, a lot of people feel the Justice Department is run amok. They are doing things they shouldn't be doing and not doing things they should be doing. As someone has said, for them not to be prosecuting the Black Panthers in Philadelphia for their voting intimidation and now to consider going after a person who, under our system, has been found not guilty — it's incredulous." ******************************** THE HILL: White House: Obama not involved in DOJ review of Zimmerman White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that President Obama would not be involved in the Justice Department's review of possible civil rights charges against George Zimmerman after his acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Carney said that the White House would not comment on whether they believed the Martin family should pursue a wrongful death civil suit against Zimmerman.
(Thomas Jefferson: "What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.")
#2. To: We The People (#1)
Now a grand jury will be convened?
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#3. To: We The People (#1)
Now a grand jury will be convened?
#4. To: sneakypete (#3)
#5. To: sneakypete (#3)
#6. To: We The People (#4)
Civil rights charges typically only apply to government officials, such as the police officers involved in the 1992 Rodney King trials.
#7. To: We The People (#5)
I also heard that Zimmerman voted for Obama. Ironic.
#8. To: We The People, sneakypete (#1)
Now a grand jury will be convened?
#9. To: sneakypete, We The People (#6)
[We The People] Civil rights charges typically only apply to government officials, such as the police officers involved in the 1992 Rodney King trials.
U.S. v. Nelson
#10. To: We The People (#0)
The Justice Department, in announcing it would examine possible civil rights violations, said it has already been reviewing the handling of the criminal case in which Zimmerman, a Hispanic, fatally shot Martin, a black teen, in February 2012, raising concerns about such issues as racial profiling.
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