Trayvon Martin’s mother: ‘Use this case as an example’

… on Friday, Fulton talked about the year since Trayvon’s death, from her “disbelief” about what happened to the role race might play in the case. When I asked Fulton what the last year has been like, a swirl of pain and resolve could be heard in her voice. While she is heartened by the outpouring of moral support, she is “sad” that she will not be seeing “my son graduate from high school, of seeing my son going to the prom, of seeing my son going to college, getting married, having kids.”

I would like to ensure that this does not happen to somebody else’s child. I want them to take this case and use this case as an example to stand up and try to prevent this from happening to anybody else. I wouldn’t want anybody to go through what I’ve gone through in the last year. …

It’s really difficult to try to process what happened in my mind to try to help, not only other children, but my other son. I would like to have some type of remedy to solve this, to try to prevent this from reoccurring. I believe that death is unavoidable but violent crimes are.

See also The Trayvon Martin Killing, One Year Later

Color of Change: Remembering Trayvon Martin

† Criminal InJustice is a weekly series devoted to taking action against inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system. Nancy A. Heitzeg, Professor of Sociology and Race/Ethnicity, is the Editor of CI. Criminal Injustice is published every Wednesday at 6 pm.

Standing Up to “Stand Your Ground”
by nancy a heitzeg

A mere 9 months after Trayvon Martin, and here we are, mourning Jordan Davis, another 17 year old Florida teen shot down. This time “loud music” not “hoodies” was the proximate trigger, but the real reason, of course, irrational archtypical threat of The Criminal-Black-Man.

As Melissa Harris-Perry puts it, “No Country for Black Boys”.

Her Open Letter this week addresses the details and the larger concerns:
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From Colorlines:

No longer able to defend themselves on Voter ID and Kill at Will legislation they helped popularize — as much as they tried — American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is finally dropping both from their agenda, announcing today that they will focus on free market, anti-regulation policies. In a statement from Indiana state Rep. David Frizzell, also ALEC’s national chairman:

“Today we are redoubling our efforts on the economic front, a priority that has been the hallmark of our organization for decades. Fostering the exchange of pro-growth, solutions-oriented ideas is precisely why ALEC exists. “To that end, our legislative board last week unanimously agreed to further our work on policies that will help spur innovation and competitiveness across the country. “We are refocusing our commitment to free-market, limited government and pro-growth principles, and have made changes internally to reflect this renewed focus. “We are eliminating the ALEC Public Safety and Elections task force that dealt with non-economic issues, and reinvesting these resources in the task forces that focus on the economy. The remaining budgetary and economic issues will be reassigned. “While we recognize there are other critical, non-economic issues that are vitally important to millions of Americans, we believe we must concentrate on initiatives that spur competitiveness and innovation and put more Americans back to work. “Our free-market, limited government, pro-growth policies are the reason ALEC enjoys the support of legislators on both sides of the aisle and in all 50 states. ALEC members are interested in solutions that put the American economy back on track. This is our mission, and it is what distinguishes us.”

From BlackStarNews:

In State v. Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s bail application — his motion for bail is returnable on April 20, 2012 — should be denied.

It would be unthinkable for a Black person in Florida to seek bail after being charged with murder in the second degree for causing the death of a White person. This bail application would be routinely denied.

No lawful reason exists for any White person to be treated differently, under similar circumstances, than any Black person. For this reason alone, this bail application should be denied.

Movant, for this relief herein, must address this issue of racial disparity or the Court should allow leave of court for him to address this issue. The Court can take judicial notice of the judicial practices and patterns in Florida. The state of Florida should not deviate from the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

From Institute for Southern Studies:

At least five major companies and one foundation have severed support for the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC — part of a growing national campaign that has linked the corporate advocacy group to voter ID laws and “Stand Your Ground” gun legislation highlighted in the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.

On April 10, Common Cause announced in a press release that “Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and Intuit confirmed last week that they’ve already withdrawn from ALEC. On Monday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that they will no longer be making grants to ALEC.”

Later the same day, McDonald’s also announced it was pulling support.

The defections could be a serious blow to ALEC, which since 1973 has pushed conservative legislation in state legislatures, often aimed at weakening or eliminating environmental and other regulations. In November 2011, a Florida Republican lawmaker forgot to remove ALEC’s mission statement from an anti-tax bill he introduced to the legislature, one of several recent episodes revealing ALEC’s pervasive influence.

Key to ALEC’s mission is its “public private partnership,” which, according to ALEC’s website, “provides the private sector with an unparalleled opportunity to have its voice heard, and its perspective appreciated, by the legislative members” of the groups, who are mostly Republican state lawmakers.

Twenty-three companies comprise ALEC’s “private enterprise board,” all of them political heavyweights. According to an analysis by Open Secrets.org, the 23 corporations have spent more than $400 million on federal lobbying between 2009 and 2011. The people and PACs associated with the ALEC companies also gave more than $25 million to federal candidates in the 2010 election cycle.