Let's talk about Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and how unbelievably fucked up this all is

But as ThinkProgress explained in a post earlier today, the jury instructions contained the law’s key provision and instructed jurors that self-defense meant Zimmerman was entitled to “stand his ground” with “no duty to retreat.”

As I understand it, SYG was main reason why GZ wasn't arrested from the outset. Due to SYG, police needed proof that he didn't act in self-defense

^ that may have been the cops' excuse, but it isn't true. SYG doesn't prevent the police from arresting killers.

Maybe the cops knew the law was so broad and stupid that they figured, why bother even arresting him?

maybe the cops were just incompetent racist assholes

bear in mind if you want florida to fall into the ocean that includes all the people in florida that are on the receiving end of all the crummy stuff that you are now identifying with florida.

very otm.

i have always kind of hated the "ugh! let's get rid of florida/arizona/the south/etc" response that liberals invariably indulge in whenever something bad happens because in nearly all cases much of the best and most effective criticism comes from the actual ppl who live in those places.

there were about a million 'boycott arizona!' calls after SB 1070 passed, and you know what? they accomplished fuck-all. if anything, they made the hardliners in arizona angrier and more determined.

it made people stop drinking arizona tea

arrgh I am sure this has come up many times already but wtf why can't these poor sad whiteguys knock it off with the "OMG IT'S THE SAME CIRCUMSTANCES DON'T YOU SEE WHITE PPL ARE OPPRESSED TOO" bullshit examples like this one

http://rochester.ynn.com/content/top_stories/490926/jury-finds-roderick-scott-not-guilty/

I mean, I pretty much know the answer but FUCK

Boycott golf

preemptively done

Yeah i figured id be preachin to the choir there

xxp: One glaring difference is that Scott is showing empathy towards the deceased's family and saying he wished he could have done something different so that the kid would not have died as opposed to having his family members wondering what can be done to stop kids from being dangerous drug dealing fiends like Trayvon.

please don't boycott golf

If you want to drown Florida that means you want to drown the Martin family...

I said this on twitter but people saying we should jettison Florida sound a lot like people who say we should have let the confederates secede, which I can't even countenance

well the goal isn't to physically destroy the state of florida or cut it off with a saw it is to get florida to change a law

^^ first couplet in iatee-composed "Let's Save Trayvon" anthem

there was a flaw in the law, that others had saw

if Florida starts to feel an economic squeeze, who is going to bear the brunt of it?

sonny crockett and ricardo tubbs

the bourgeois

You get another try

if Florida starts to feel an economic squeeze, who is going to bear the brunt of it?

"starts to feel"

u know what I mean

i wish to make them feel the crushing weight of shame and opprobrium

just throwing this out there but the anti-SA boycott went on for 20+ years and was repeatedly circumvented by US and UK businesses.

fuckin paul simon

anyone willing to boycott florida doesn't appreciate the importance of slip-n-slide records to global culture, much less the continued necessity of miami bass to a functioning society

lol but also OTM

I think it'd be fun to organize a boycott of every state with a Stand Your Ground law. At least, I'd love to sit back and watch someone try it.

"Psst, Stevie Wonder, half the country has the same fucked up law ..."

it's easier to lop off Florida.

I mean, I guess Michigan is also loppable-offable, but where do you put it afterwards? The lakes aren't that big.

;_______________;

http://now.msn.com/awaken-cafe-puts-remarkable-sign-in-broken-window

http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/60/D1BB7531B7D94AC1C4BCCB44B91864_h316_w628_m5_cYSZJNwQm.jpg

wait ... do 1 in 25 white people really go to jail?

I know I should know by now but Jesus H Christ the comments. For real who are these people?

Substantial Disparities
Between Men and Women
And Among Racial Groups

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- If 1991 incarceration
rates were to remain constant, approximately one
out of every 20 United States residents (5.1
percent) would be confined in a state or federal
prison during his or her lifetime, according to
estimates made by the Justice Department's Bureau
of Justice Statistics (BJS).
Based on the report's assumptions, which do
not reflect the actual experience of any group of
residents, the lifetime chances of a person going
to prison are higher for men (9.0 percent) than
for women (1.1 percent) and higher for blacks
(16.2 percent) and Hispanics (9.4 percent) than
for whites (2.5 percent). An estimated 28.5
percent of black men, 16.0 percent of Hispanic men
and 4.4 percent of white men can be expected to
serve a state or federal prison term.

At every age, men have a higher likelihood of going
to prison than do women, and blacks and Hispanics
are more likely than whites.

The percent of men who will go to prison by
age is as follows:

Age White Men Black Men Hispanic Men

Birth 4.4% 28.5% 16.0%
20 4.1 25.3 14.8
25 3.0 17.3 11.1
30 2.1 10.8 8.6
35 1.5 6.5 6.8
40 1.1 3.6 4.3

xp

i don't know but apparently comments box racists outnumber comments box non-racists by 10 to 1

bureau of justice stats report xp

the type of people who comment on internet sites are the same people who stand in long-assed lines on free Slurpee day.

says the guy commenting on ILX

touche!

*slurp*

this doesn't really feel like the internet somehow

^^ honeymoon phase

i mean, someone did call me a "worthless human being" on here today. that felt like the internet.

in general though i love this place. i can just type my opinions about stuff and most of the time i'll get a thoughtful response.

fuck you

haha

jk

yeah but that dude is a douche treeship