The case of “Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman” is the court case that encouraged me to pursue my career in law. The case was about a seventeen year old African American male named Trayvon Martin who was fatally shot while walking home. A man named George Zimmerman was claimed to be the shooter who shot and killed Martin. According to the news story Martin was walking home from the local Seven Eleven when Zimmerman encountered him. When asked about the situation Zimmerman claimed that he was unfamiliar with seeing Martin in the neighborhood and said Martin looked suspicious.…
On February 26th, 2012, in Sanford Florida, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Igniting a national debate on racial profiling and civil rights. Trayvon Martin was walking back from a nearby 7-Eleven before the crime was acted upon (Bay News 9 Staff). After three weeks of testimony, the six-women jury rejected the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Zimmerman had deliberately pursued Mr. Martin because he assumed the hoodie-clad teenager was a criminal and instigated the fight that led to his death. Mr. Zimmerman said he shot Mr. Martin in self-defense after the teenager knocked him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head repeatedly against the sidewalk.…
It is important, as one reads these lines, to pay attention not only to the distance between two realities as galactic distance, but also that Coates is stating that he lives in his own world, no matter the condition of it, and that these were worlds were linked in some way, no matter the distance between them. Coates is serious about the energy that is required to uncouple the worlds and to keep them detached (the cost of black life, in black death, in the death of Trayvon Martin), but also to keep open the bonds the two still have. Coates is serious about the capacities of the body to create galaxies and universes, and gateways through which to gain access. These galaxies and universes would be ones in which one does not have to fear for…
As African Americans we will continue to face different obstacles resulting from racism, cultural movements, and important events that helped change the nation. Nearly six decades apart, Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin would never know that would be the day their actions affect their presence on Earth. They each walked into different stores, purchasing candy, and were unarmed. These individual stories marked pivotal moments within society. As history repeats itself, stories like these will have an impact on the younger generation.…
In both cases, the attack of Rodney King and the murder of Michael Brown were not the initial cause of the riots. The riots were caused by racial tension that had been building in both areas for some time. As a former law enforcement officer, it is one’s responsibility to foresee dangerous situations and combat them. In these two circumstances, one could see the tension building, yet no one took it upon themselves to decrease the tension. In both cases, a committee should have been enacted prior to the explosive emotions that caused the riots.…
Emmett Till Case Emmett Till was just 14 years old when he was tortured and killed. Emmett Till was killed by two white men in 1955 in Sumner, Mississippi. His murderers were found innocent by a jury of all white men. Of all the events fighting for Civil Rights the one that Kickstarted the major fights was the brutal torture and murder of a 14 year old boy by the name of Emmett Till.…
As a person who moved the the United States few years ago, I was not informed about many information that were mentions in the videos. Personally, I have not had any police encounters since I started living here, however, through the news and what appears on many sharing social networks the police did not leave me with good impression. Case like the shooting death of a African American teen Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, the Michael Brown case resulted in the protests in Ferguson or a recent video online of a teenage African American girl being handle in a very physically brutal way when she refused to leave the classroom. These examples made me furious because the only time a police officer could engage in violence actions is when their…
Hi, sorry so late to the game this week! I see that there is an issue of whether or not the court, takes the time to determine if the expert witness has the proper background or not. One of the things I would wonder is if there was a difference between someone who, has a great deal of experience with a particular piece of evidence, but no training and someone who has received training, i.e., when would a lay persons testimony be more accepted by the court then an experts testimony? This question brought me to the Trayvon Martin cases.…
The Injustice of Trayvon Martin It’s what you see everywhere, it’s what you’ll hear anywhere: it’s racism. In the 2010s, racism was still prevalent despite how far the United States had come from slavery. On February 26, 2012, a white neighborhood watchman shot and killed and unarmed 17-year-old. George Zimmerman, the watchman, claimed self-defense against the black teenager; he was never arrested.…
Power, Violence, and Discrimination an Analysis of the Shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri Austin Dix PSYC 2602-002 Spring 2015 University of Colorado Boulder The shooting of an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri polarized the nation and catalyzed a renewed focus on police violence and racial biases in policing. Ferguson, Missouri has 21,000 residents, and is primarily white. Of their 53-man police force, only four are black, and according to the U.S. Justice Department, the Ferguson Police has a highly disparate number of black suspects arrested. Thus, questions were quickly raised after the shooting whether biases or prejudices…
Here in beautiful America, where the land was first walked upon by people looking for a better life and to have freedom, there is a community suffering a lack of freedom and a better life because of the pigment of their skin. This group is the Black Community. In sweet America young innocent African AMERICAN male’s lives have been taken away by white AMERICAN males. Families are losing fathers, brothers, cousins and friends by people who can hide behind a badge, those people are called police. For example Laquan McDonald from Chicago was young and innocent and is now dead.…
I recently watched a PBS documentary called Divided States of America. This documentary was very compelling and was one I learned a lot from. It taught me a lot about political activities I was unaware of. This documentary provided a lot of background to the election of Barack Obama and his terms of presidency. After watching the video, I have a great understanding as to why it is titled Divided States of America.…
Brock Turner is a Stanford athlete, a victim of college drinking culture, but also a sex offender. In any case of duplicity, the perpetrator can be defined in one way, but also the opposite depending on what lens is adopted. In the case of Turner, what is true from every perspective is on a Saturday night, January 17th, 2015, Brock Turner was found on top of a half-naked girl behind a dumpster by two graduate students (Stack). He did not rape her, but he was convicted of sexual assault on three felony accounts and sentenced to 6 months of prison and 3 years of probation (Stack). According to Turner and his father, he was a victim of college drinking culture.…
Alternative actions could’ve been made, and there wouldn’t be an issue to resolve today; not just legally, but emotionally. The parents of Mr. Brown, Michael Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, lost a son that was scheduled to start classes at Vatterott College exactly two days after his death. He played football, and was referred to as a gentle giant. He was loved and looked up to, so his death only called for voices to be heard. Protests contained demonstrations of how it was said that Michael reacted to the officer upon the chase.…
To begin with, the case I decided to write about is the Eric Garner case which I feel strongly about. This incident took place in Staten Island, New York on July 17th 2014. It all started when the police officers approached Mr. Garner about selling untaxed cigarettes and tried making an arrest. Eric Garner then tried to explain to the law enforcement officers that he hasn’t done anything. As the officer tried to make an arrest with resistance from the victim, he then wrapped his arm around the 43 year old’s neck.…