Gosh. What to say about the verdict in the Luis Ramirez murder case?
This string of events, court case, and circumstances is a real GRAY AREA.
Gasps filled the courtroom in Pottsville Friday as not-guilty verdicts were announced on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation for the teens.
A death caused by a brutal beating of an illegal immigrant. Alcohol. Teenagers as the culprits. Small town America. All white jury. Religion. Racism.
And a messy bunch of testimony and witnesses.
Walsh pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Ramirez’s civil rights and could be out of prison in four years. On the witness stand, he identified Piekarsky as the kicker. So did Scully, who told jurors he tried to kick the immigrant but missed. Scully is charged in juvenile court with aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.
This one is not going to go away anytime soon.
Even if the verdict came back guilty I think this one still hangs out there as a big giant hornet’s nest.
Questions hanging out there:
- Did the culprits get off easy?
- Was racism at play in the courtroom?
- What rights does an illegal immigrant have?
- How do we prosecute teens?
- Did the recent debates in the region stir up violence?
- What are the consequences at play here?
- What are the histories of these teens? of the victim? of the town?
- What is the legal precedent? the cultural precedent?
More than anything we need to talk about these things. Debate them. This situation doesn’t have an easy answer nor an absolute answer. It’s real gray and the gray things require a lot of thought and debate. Let’s start.
I’m sorry, but this isn’t as “gray” as you think it is. These four kids killed an innocent man by beating him to death. When they were finished with him, his skull had been cracked open and his brains were oozing out, his ribs were fractured and he was foaming at the mouth. This was not a “street fight gone wrong,” or whatever lame excuse they are using to rationalize this murder. Those kids are a menace to society and they should be in jail. If they were any color except white, they would be.
But they got off with ‘simple assault.’
The Justice Department needs to intervene.
I must agree with Kelly, I don’t see any grey area here at all.
These kids got off easy, and racism, general xenophobia and persecution of the ‘other’, is clearly the only reason why they got such ridiculous treatment in the courts.
At no point in the US constitution is there a different set of rights established for citizens (or non-citizens). Our constitution affords the same rights to all.
[Article 4, sec2 requires that citizens of all states to be guaranteed their local rights in other states in the union. This is the closest to a citizen vs non citizen distinction in high law, though this clause has always been interpreted to mean that states can not discriminate against persons from other US states.]
The word “CITIZEN” does not even appear in the bill of rights. It speaks only of “person(s)”.
However, illegal immigrants can of course be charged with violation of immigration law and are subject to specific laws regarding that, including possible deportation.
A generalized and irrational fear in white America has fueled the racist and anti immigrant feelings. Pensylvania unfortunately has a long history of racial hatred – for some time we had more organized (racist) skins and neonazis than Alabama and Mississippi.
I must sadly report that I have heard several crazy fears uttered by caucasians in the last year. Everything from blaming immigrants for the economic downfall, to “that nigger Obama” for raising thier local utility bills…
I even heard from some Catholics that they feared that Obama’s scheduled speaking engagement at a Catholic university required that all crosses and religious statues be covered or removed from the room. NUTS! Why would a college agree to that? Why would a politician visit a religious school and demand the school pretend not be be religious… it was just a rumor mill gone off the tracks.