www.afro.com
Volume 121 No. 50
$1.00
JULY 20, 2013 - JULY 26, 2013
Zimmerman Verdict: How Right, How Wrong? Prominent Black Lawyers Debate the Stunning Outcome By Zenitha Prince Special to the AFRO Black legal experts have conflicting opinions on the outcome of the trial of George Zimmerman, who was accused of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during an altercation on the night of Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. A six-member, all-female jury comprising five Whites and one
Zimmerman Acquittal Stirs Disbelief, Anger By Talib Babb and Courtney Jacobs AFRO Staff Writers
“A lot of people in our community are still stunned by the outcome, including me,” said Glenn Ivey, 52, former state’s attorney for Prince George’s County, “I never thought they would get a second-degree murder charge out of this but I thought there was enough information to support manslaughter.” Most legal experts agree that second-degree murder was a stretch, given the evidence. But some, unlike Ivey, said even a manslaughter conviction was too much to hope for. “I didn’t think there was any chance for Trayvon to get justice,” said Warren Brown, a Warren Brown well-known criminal defense lawyer, who has practiced in Baltimore for 33 years. He added, “And unfortunately what happened to Trayvon happens all the doggone time in thousands of cases per week in courts around the country. It is reality.” Some of the experts agreed that race had a
Days after George Zimmerman’s acquittal July 13 by a Florida jury of manslaughter and second-degree murder charges a wide range of emotions surfaced among Americans, especially African Americans, many of whom condemned the release of the admitted killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Amid widespread demonstrations in U.S. towns and cities, mostly non-violent
“…unfortunately what happened to Trayvon happens all the doggone time in thousands of cases per week in courts around the country. It is reality.” —Attorney Hispanic on July 13 acquitted the 29-year-old on the charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting death of the unarmed Black teen. The verdict has spawned both satisfaction and outrage, with crowds taking to the streets around the country, decrying the case’s underlying issues of racial profiling and equal justice.
INSIDE A3
Double Loss for Trayvon Martin’s Family
B1–2
Deltas’ Centennial Celebration INSERT • Walmart
Hear the AFRO on The Daily Drum, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Continued on A3
Blacks Who Stand Their Ground Often Imprisoned
Florida’s Astounding Inconsistent ‘Stand Your Ground’ Application By Zenitha Prince Special to the AFRO The recent acquittal of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old unarmed Trayvon Martin has led to intense scrutiny of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, on which Zimmerman’s defense was based, and similar “no retreat” self-defense laws and their impact on people of color. “I think the Trayvon Martin case highlighted the racial inequalities that exist in American society,” said Brendan Fischer, general counsel of the Center for Media and Democracy. “It is a symbol of how the American justice system devalues the lives of people of color. [And], ‘Stand Your Ground’ has embedded a lot of these injustices into the system. Statistics have shown its application has been anything but equitable.” Supported by the National Rifle Association, “Stand Your Ground” was passed by the Florida legislature in 2005. The measure turned age-old self-defense principle on its head by allowing persons to use deadly force to defend themselves, without first trying to retreat, if they have a reasonable belief that they face a threat. The law’s template was then adopted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit organization made up of corporations, foundations and legislators that advance federalist and conservative public policies, authorities said. Since Florida passed the law, similar measures have been introduced in one form or another in about 30 states, usually those with state legislatures dominated by Republicans. “That law gives law-and-order activists, right-wingers and vigilantes an arguable basis for
afro.com
Your History • Your Community • Your News
Continued on A4
The Deltas Significantly Impact the Capital Centennial Celebration Bathes Washington in a Crimson and Cream Sea of Activity By Blair Adams and Ariel Medley AFRO Staff Writers
04
7
47105 21847
2
Join the AFRO on Twitter and Facebook
protests with a handful of arrests, there was anger and shock that a 29-yearold neighborhood watch volunteer could encounter an unarmed teenager, shoot and kill him and escape criminal conviction. “I was in disbelief when I read the words not guilty. How can someone not be guilty of killing someone?” said Habibah Hall, a mother of two children, who was at home when she saw the news. Hall told the AFRO she also believes anger is building and that there may be some kind of violent reaction to this verdict somewhere in the United States of America. Her friend Natasha, who was sitting next to her when the verdict was announced, told Continued on A4
As members of the world’s largest African-American women’s Greek-letter organization descended on the nation’s capital in a mid-July blanket of crimson and cream, it became clear to even the most baffled tourist that the women of Delta Sigma Theta are a force to be reckoned with. More than a century after being the only Black group in the historic Women’s Suffrage March in 1913, an estimated 40,000 Deltas swarmed Washington D.C. from July 11 to July 17, for their 51st national convention—and 100th birthday.
Inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest D.C. July 15, and throughout the city, thousands of women, many of whom had traveled thousands of miles for the event, created a sea of the sorority’s colors as they celebrate Delta’s 100th anniversary. “We are here celebrating years of sisterhood and community service,” said Beverly Goss, who pledged in 1994 and traveled from New Jersey. She said, “It’s great to see all of our college educated black women come together and let the world know that we are Delta Sigma Theta.” The weeklong celebration began July 11with the lighting of the Delta Torch at Continued on A3
AP Photo
In this July 30, 2007, file photo, then-Washington Redskins assistant coach for defense Gregg Williams talks to the players during football training camp at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va.
Redskins Ask Judge to Dismiss Bounties Lawsuit By Jessica Gresko Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Redskins are asking a judge to dismiss a former NFL player’s lawsuit that accuses the team and former assistant coach Gregg Williams of running a bounty program that encouraged players to intentionally injure opponents. The former player, linebacker Barrett Green, says he was targeted by the Redskins during a game on Dec. 5, 2004, resulting in a career-ending knee injury. Green was playing for the New York Giants at the time. He played for New York and for the Detroit Lions between 2000 and 2005. He filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the Redskins, Williams and the player who hit him, Robert Royal. The team said in a response filed Friday in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., that Green’s claims are “utterly baseless.” But, even if they were true, his lawsuit is pre-empted by an
Copyright © 2013 by the Afro-American Company
NFL collective bargaining agreement and was filed too late, lawyers for the team wrote. The team argues that an NFL collective bargaining agreement in place at the time required Green to exhaust grievance and arbitration procedures before filing a lawsuit, which he did not do. The team also says the statute of limitations for all Green’s claims is three years from the time of his injury. Green said in his lawsuit he was suspicious he may have been targeted when he was hit in 2004, and team lawyers wrote he had enough information then to pursue his claims if he wanted. The allegations of a bounty program came to light more recently. Redskins coaches and players told The Associated Press in 2012 that Williams offered cash rewards for big hits and other plays — a violation of NFL rules — when he was coaching Washington’s defense from 2004 to 2007. But they differed on whether it was a Continued on A4