Commentary on the Zimmerman case.

Sorry folks, I couldn't think of a humorous headline.  

Pictured above is a man who is the most hated man in America at the moment, George Zimmerman.  He was acquitted on July 13th of this year of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin during an altercation in a gated community in central Florida last February (2012).  Though he was not initially charged with anything as the police who investigated the crime had determined he had shot Martin in self-defense, pressure from politicians in Florida and the mainstream media, the case was "re-examined" and it was determined that charges were necessary and were subsequently brought.

This case immediate caught the attention of the public...once again prodded along by the mainstream media...on many levels because Zimmerman was carrying a weapon and Martin was unarmed.  

That George Zimmerman called 911 and identified Martin as a possible criminal because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt concealing his face.  

That Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer and not a certified police officer. 

And finally, George Zimmerman is white and Trayvon Martin is black.

All of the ingredients were coming together to give the mainstream media the 21st Century's first trial comparable with the O.J. Simpson murder trial, and naturally, it was a wall-to-wall story.

I was asked my opinion about this case when this story originally broke.  The question was prefaced by the fact that the person asking me knew of my employment background...which is that I have spent most of the last two decades either in the employ of a law enforcement agency or adjacent to one.  I don't know what that person was expecting but my answer was decidedly neutral in the sense that if I had learned ANYTHING from being employed by law enforcement agencies is that one must respect the system and try to keep emotion out of it as much as possible.  

With the acquittal came a mass outbreak of utter stupidity in this country.  All of a sudden, the justice system was broken.  Trayvon's soul was not at rest because Zimmerman walked away a free man.  People wearing hooded sweatshirts...marched in demonstration against the verdict and some violence broke loose, but thankfully there wasn't anything that came close to rioting but there was nothing on the order of the rioting after the 1992 Rodney King trial where the officers were similarly acquitted.

The networks news establishment didn't help things any.  They were rooting for a guilty verdict...after all, they were part of what made this into the circus that it became.  So in the absence of the image of George Zimmerman being led away in irons they needed something to fill the space where every legal analyst would praise the prosecution for vindicating what was essentially an attempted mass lynching.  That's a harsh term but the reality is that despite how "broken" people will tell you that the justice system is in this country for George Zimmermna it worked exactly as it was supposed to.

The six jurors were given instructions to follow within the law, and they did that.  The rule of law is something that trumps raw emotion in this country, thank God, and it separates us from other countries whose justice system consists of an accusation and without trial, punishment carried out, usually an execution by some violent and public means.   

The fact of the matter is that while this country was transfixed by everything that wasn't considered by the jury, the law was what was followed under instructions of the judge is what they ruled on, and it came out as George Zimmerman was found not guilty.  What's sad is that everyone who has spoken out publicly about this verdict and against it would want the system to work the way it did for them, but, too prideful to admit that they come up with stupid statement that Zimmerman, "may have been found not guilty but he wasn't found innocent."  

Bottom line is that the entire country has to come to the understanding that morality doesn't equal legality, especially in this case.  Despite those who would say there was no justice for Trayvon Martin in reality the justice system as a whole worked, and unfortunately that doesn't essentially mean that there would be a trophy for either side when it was all said and done.  In any case, Trayvon Martin is still dead and George Zimmermna has to live with that for the rest of his life.

In discussing this with friends I am often asked things like "What if this were your son?  Would you still have the faith in the system that you have now?".  I honestly can't answer that.  It is true that people like me can discuss this case with a little more of a detachment because of my background and other factors, I'll admit that but I do not consider that a fair question.  Among my social networking friends this was a question asked in a civil respectful debate but when you are talking to people you don't know who have a huge chip on their shoulder it's a different story.

I will say that if I were more personally affected more than likely I would feel differently because anyone who knows me will tell you that my son is my world, but even if he was murdered and there was a lot more evidence there to convict the person than was present in the Zimmerman case any litigator will tell you that in every case there is still a 50-50 chance that an not guilty verdict would be handed down.  Everyone is granted their right to trial when accused of a crime, and George Zimmerman was allowed his.

I hope I would be rational enough to consider that if it ever happened to me, God forbid, but it will likely be vastly different.

My respect for and faith in the American system of justice despite all of this.  Mob rule has no place in America today and people don't realize how scary it would be if we didn't have it.