National Bar Association Demands Justice for Trayvon Martin

[The Straight Story]

National Bar Association Demands Justice for Trayvon Martin
Zimmerman Verdict Highlights Continued Injustices
in Legal System
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC, July 14, 2013 - We are extremely disappointed by the verdict in the case of State of Florida v. George Zimmerman. As lawyers we respect the rule of law, but in this instance the Zimmerman verdict sadly highlights the continued injustices Black Americans face in the U.S. legal system.

"The verdict," stated NBA President John E. Page "says an unarmed college-bound Black teen can be profiled, stalked, confronted and killed by an armed neighborhood watchman with hollow tip point bullets. We express our heartfelt condolences to Trayvon Martin's family on this tragic verdict. We also say 'Enough is Enough - It is NOT OK to kill our youth'."

The fact is the jury delivered a not guilty verdict. The TRUTH is justice has not been served. In these most challenging of times, we are called upon to act. We must move from outrage to action. It starts today with the NBA and YOU!

"Injustice anywhere," as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "is a threat to justice everywhere." We have work to do to achieve justice for Trayvon Martin. As social agitators, the members of the NBA are continuing the struggle for "equal justice under the law" for Trayvon Martin. At the forefront of this struggle are NBA members Daryl Parks (Past NBA President) and Ben Crump, of the Tallahassee, Florida law firm Parks & Crump, LLC, that are representing Trayvon's family in advocating for "equal justice under the law." We proudly stand with them.

We urge the Department of Justice to act. The Department can still address the violation of Trayvon's most fundamental civil right - the right to life. Upon a thorough investigation of the matter, we expect the Department to vigorously pursue all appropriate claims.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/NBA-Issues-Statement-After-Jury-Acquits-George-Zimmerman.html?soid=1103956636517&aid=cShmmia_6mM

[arely staircase]

1. hear, hear nt

[rhett o rick]

2. I think the FBI should investigate the racist behavior of the police department. nm

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. It's NOT just the police department. It's the DA's office and the prosecution....

They purposely lost the case to save themselves from a civil case for their prior violations.

[brer cat]

12. Don't forget to include the Judge.

[loudsue]

66. It was the judge that kept the most legally incriminating evidence out of the trial.

The judge needs to be off the bench.

[billh58]

28. Exactly! They were

reluctant to even investigate the murder in the beginning because they assumed that Zimmerman's statement of self-defense was true. The police department, the DA's office, and the Republican asshats who passed the NRA-sponsored SYG and CCW laws which gave Zimmerman his vigilante license-to-kill, are ALL to blame for this travesty.

That the Prosecution allowed an all-white jury to be seated was a bigot's wet dream, and was aimed at giving the DA's office a pass for taking a dive.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

45. People are acting like there's something holy about the trial system...

As if it can't be manipulated or just out and out corrupted.

[Travis_0004]

29. The FBI completed in investigation more than a year ago

They said there was no racial bias.

[billh58]

39. What the FBI report

actually said, was that they could not find anyone who was willing to testify that Zimmerman had racist tendencies:

"The report released Thursday made clear that the FBI found no one willing to go on the record as saying Zimmerman is racist. Even one of the most skeptical local investigators with the Sanford, Fla., police department, Chris Serino, suggested to the FBI that Zimmerman followed Trayvon “based on his attire,” not “skin color,” and added that he thought Zimmerman had a “little hero complex,” but is not racist, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which obtained copies of the document."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0712/FBI-report-No-evidence-George-Zimmerman-is-racist

Of course other racists would not testify against one of their own, and the behavior of the Sanford PD and the DA's office right after the incident had the appearance of being biased. They totally accepted Zimmerman's claims of self-defense, and decided not to investigate any further, or to press any charges. It wasn't until public outcries for justice, and the FBI stepped in that the Sanford bigots decided to take the case to trial, but by then any meaningful evidence was long gone.

The FBI investigation is still open, and the DOJ is looking into the case. The question isn't so much whether Zimmerman is a racist at this point (because he can't be tried again in criminal court) but if the legal system in Sanford is racially biased -- including the all white jury (which the DA's office allowed).

[rhett o rick]

46. Exactly. I am not speaking of the racism of Zimmy, but of the police department. nm

[Cha]

3. Good! I saw that and was going to post it. Glad it's

here.

Thanks TSS

[Bjorn Against]

4. Wow, I was not expecting this from the National Bar Association

The NBA is usually not a group that rocks the boat, but they have a huge amount of influence and plenty of lawyers. This is a very good sign for those of us who want to see something happen to stop this sort of injustice from happening again.

[SunSeeker]

19. I think you may be confusing the NBA with the ABA (American Bar Association). nt

[Bjorn Against]

21. You are probably right, thanks for the correction.

[Marie Marie]

40. I confused the two also.

Any simple way to explain the difference?

[Marie Marie]

41. Never mind - explained below.

[SunSeeker]

49. The ABA accredits law schools; the NBA is an African American lawyer network.

The ABA has over 400,000 members and has been around since 1878 as a voluntary lawyer's association. As noted elsewhere in this thread, at one time ABA membership excluded African Americans (the great William H. Lewis was ousted from its membership in 1911 when Southern members discovered he was African American, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Lewis). These sort of indignities let to the formation of the NBA.

According to their link, "The National Bar Association was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys and judges. It represents approximately 44,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students and has over 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world. For additional information about the National Bar Association, visit www.nationalbar.org"

Today, of course, both the ABA and NBA have African American members.

[Kennah]

72. The NBA does engage in advocacy, but they don't strike me as incendiary or radical

It seems very significant for them to put this forward.

[indepat]

5. The Zimmerman case announced to the nation and world imo that young black males have absolutely

no right to life in the state of FL, a blatant abrogation of the constitutional right to life. FL imo is, in essence, saying "f*ck you young black males and your fu*king high-fa-luting constitutional rights. Luckily, we can take full comfort that the Department of Justice will seek justice for Trayvon.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Someone have an email address for them?

I would surely love to give them a taste of what their lovely Florida lawyers are doing in our communities to make sure that such injustices will continue in this county.

I assume I can google that address, but anyone who knows anyone in the organization that wants personal information about this county, please PM me their address.

[ReRe]

13. Thank you, BB!

You do exactly that. I imagine Justice will be there soon (in your county) interviewing lots of people and going over everything they can get their hands on about that PD. Actually, I hope they have been preparing info for the last year and a half (since Trayvon's death) in the event that things turned out the way they did. The injustice of racism has got to stop in this society. I hope and pray that the Justice Dept will dig down deep and use this to set a powerful precedent in this country. Racial profiling will not be tolerated, no matter what age of the victim.

[marions ghost]

7. Very good statement

--I have to admit I am very surprised.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." MLK nailed what many in this country feel right now.

Thank you NBA.

[Egalitariat]

8. I've heard of the ABA. What is the NBA?

[NoGOPZone]

10. It's a professional association for African American lawyers

If I remember correctly, the founders formed it when they were barred from the ABA because of race.

[enough]

11. From the link:

"ABOUT THE NBA: The National Bar Association was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys and judges. It represents approximately 44,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students and has over 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world. For additional information about the National Bar Association, visit www.nationalbar.org"

[blkmusclmachine]

14. All Republicans on a jury?

Then a dead black man doesn't stand a chance against those odds.

IMHO

[orleans]

20. they were all republican? ugh. n/t

[ReRe]

15. Thank you, Straight Story!

K&R

[bvar22]

16. I stand with the National Bar Association.

This miscarriage can NOT be allowed to go unchallenged.

[cantbeserious]

17. Thank You For Sharing

eom

[ChaoticTrilby]

18. Kicked and Rec'd.

Thank you, NBA, and thank you, Straight Story, for posting this. It gives me hope.

[malaise]

22. Excellent

Decent people will not tolerate this - they didn't tolerate it fifty years ago.

[99th_Monkey]

23. K & Freaking R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EOM

[BlueStreak]

24. Some people may be confused by that organization's name

Just to avoid confusion, this is not the equivalent of the American Medical Association or any other broad-based professional organization. The National Trial Lawyer's Association would probably be closer to that.

The "NBA" states its mission as "Founded in 1925, the National Bar Association (NBA) is the nation's oldest and largest association of African American lawyers and judges"

They are certainly entitled to speak out on this situation, but it should not be assumed that they are representing the profession generally. Indeed, it appears their own website hasn't been updated in 6 months.

[billh58]

25. Likewise, it should not

be assumed that they are NOT representing the views of the profession generally. Judging by recent posts, they certainly represent the views of a majority of Democrats on DU.

[BlueStreak]

42. I don't know why you would conclude that

There are certainly a lot of people who have been vocal, but that in itself is hardly a "majority" of the tens of thousands of registered members here. Certainly just about everybody at DU feels at least disappointment in the result, but beyond that, I wouldn't be too quick to speak for "the majority". There are quite a few people here who are trying to be sensitive to those who have a greater need to vent right now. Please do not take silence to mean that everyone automatically agrees with everything that the most vocal people have been typing here.

Regarding the lawyers, I would point out that there were lawyers on both sides of the case. As a general rule, one can expect the ABA to support the ability to defend clients, and you will not hear them take sides on this particular case. The point is that the NBA is a an organization of black lawyers who feel a particular reason to speak up in solidarity with the black victim. I don't think anybody here should be surprised by that, and I think we can all respect that.

[billh58]

43. I stand by my assertion

that a majority of DU members strongly feel that the Zimmerman verdict was a travesty, and racially motivated, not only by Zimmerman, but by the inept Sanford PD and DA's office. And not only DU members feel strongly about this miscarriage of justice, but a huge swath of the public feels the same way.

You may feel that yours is the "voice of reason" and that the rest of us are just venting out of frustration, but then again almost all Zimmerman apologists believe that they have superior intellects -- much like their vigilante hero Zimmerman.

The next phase of this on-going battle for justice has yet to be revealed, so don't enjoy your "victory" too much just yet.

[BlueStreak]

44. Calling me an "apologist" doesn't help your argument much

I am not so thin-skinned as to take that as a personal attack in violation of TOU, but I would challenge you to find a single time that I have "apologized" for Zimmerman.

Choosing not to carry torches and pitchforks does not make a person an "apologist."

My view is simply that there are very bad laws in Florida and many other states, and that we have a culture that celebrates gun violence. Those things were the primary causes of the original tragedy, and the acquittal. If a person wants to organize to do something about the root causes, I'm in. If somebody just wants to race-bait, sorry, I'm not with you.

[HiPointDem]

54. the primary cause was zimmerman stalking a black kid on his way home from the store because

he *assumed* he was 'up to no good' & 'high on drugs' & 'looking in windows'.

[BlueStreak]

56. I repeat: If somebody just wants to race-bait, I'm not with you.

[HiPointDem]

70. i repeat: he deliberately stalked a black kid who was doing nothing more than walking home

from the store to watch a game with his dad.

if you think that's race-baiting, you have a problem.

[billh58]

57. If you sincerely

believe that there is no racism involved with the murder of Trayvon Martin in one of the most the most racist states in the country, then that speaks much louder than I ever could.

I have read several OPs by respected journalists this morning which spell out the blatant racism shown by both the defense and the prosecution. The Sanford PD exhibited racism when they refused to investigate further and just accepted Zimmerman's lame-assed excuse for the stalking and murder of Trayvon Martin.

It is not race baiting when the allegations are true. The civil case will no doubt hinge on the extremely transparent racism shown by the entire Sanford legal system -- including the jurors -- and the Martin family will prove their case and win.

[BlueStreak]

60. I never said that. There is racism both ways.

If you sincerely believe there is no racism in the outrage about this verdict ...

[billh58]

61. So now Zimmerman

is a victim of black racism? Is that what you meant by race baiting? I'm impressed with your honesty, if nothing else.

[BlueStreak]

64. You cannot call another man a racist and then oppose him on racial grounds

Last edited Tue Jul 16, 2013, 03:15 PM - Edit history (1)

and expect to not have that same stain on you.

Look, if you want to talk about the root causes -- which have almost nothing to do with race -- and actions we can take to try to have a better system of laws in Florida, that is fine. But I have no patience for this endless stream of "well if it was a white boy that was shot ..." arguments. We don't know what might have happened in some other hypothetical scenario. What we do know is that the evidence in this case was simply not clear enough to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a protection that is in place for everybody.

If you are asking me if there has ever been a lynching in the South, obviously there has been. The South (and other places) has an ugly history, and some of that legacy lives on today. But I just don't see where that was a primary factor in this case, and the attempts to try to force fit this case into a racial framework are themselves, in my opinion, bordering on racism.

[billh58]

65. There you have it.

You don't think that racism plays a part in the everyday life of Sanford residents, and there are many posts by residents of that area on DU (and elsewhere) which unequivocally state that racism is alive and well there -- as with most of Florida. Having spent some time in Florida and other parts of the South, I have seen the racism first hand, so I tend to believe that there is a great deal of anti-black racism in this community. I further believe that because of ingrained racism Zimmerman was allowed to get away with murder.

We obviously disagree, so I will let you have the last word here. When the civil trial occurs, I believe that those of us who are carrying "torches and pitchforks" will be proven right. I also believe that this incident will be a large part of starting a movement which will lead to the overturning of the obscene NRA-sponsored SYG and CCW laws across the nation.

In the end, racism will only be wiped out by educating the youth, and using examples such as this travesty of justice to underscore the message.

Take care...

[Skittles]

30. they represent the decent lawyers

[ceonupe]

32. I know quite a few NBA and ABA that

Are far from decent.

And quite a few former members who have been disbarred from both camps.

Many members of the NBA are also members of the ABA

[Skittles]

33. the decent lawyers who see that justice was not done in this case

better?

[ceonupe]

34. Sorry skittles

Was not saying anything more than being a member of a group by itself does not give you nobility if you yourself aren't noble.

Also I know quite a few black lawyers including the form first black justice of the nc Supreme Court. They all said from the start to all their friends the legal system as it stands in FL may not find a conviction just based on the law. Not justifying his actions and they wernt either.

I still don't understand why MSNBC won't call out mayor Bloomberg on his 100% support for stop and frisk and his statement giving freely on radio that more black teens need to be stopped and frisked and less whites.

[Skittles]

35. well, the law seems to favor gun humping racist cowards

although in my mind, nothing about Zimmerman's story was even REMOTELY credible

[ceonupe]

37. No one is arguing Zimmerman would have never gotten out of car without the gun

I think everyone accepts that no reasonable person would track a person in the dark on foot in the rain unless they were sure they could handle the situation going side ways.


Let's just say for arguement he stumbled upon a crime I. Progress and the assailant did have a gun. Chances are he's dead on site without the gun and even with it no telling.

The best thing to do would have been to stay in the car. But then we get to the 2 opposite directions given by the operator. Asked for info about where he was going then a few sec later after GZ is out of the car tells him not to follow. Bad call on operators part

[ceonupe]

36. As many times as Bloomberg has been on MSNBC

And not one host has challenged him on stop and frisk. Not a single one. Is it apart of his appearance contract that you can't bring up stop and frisk?


Notice how all the msnbc hosts that interview him never ask these questions

[sheshe2]

26. Kicked and Recommending!

Justice!

[KoKo]

27. K&R...hopefully other groups will come out urging investigations.

[Scootaloo]

31. B-b-b-b-but th-the J-j-j-jury d-d-decided!

GOOD.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

38. Excellent!! This is excellent!

Thank you National Bar Association!

[MotherPetrie]

47. K&R

[tavalon]

48. Time for a civil suit

This bastard just thinks he got off scott free, he didn't.

[ceonupe]

51. To be honest a good civil suit

Would need to be crowd sourced. No offense to me crump but if its me I say they bring in heavy hitters and atleast one of the attys from outside of civil rights circuit. (For diffent perspective approach and balance)

People may laugh but Willie Gary knows crump well and they have shared clients.

If they want this done right it needs to be funded. Not silt based on contingency.

And they have to hope Zimmerman is not granted immunity.

This may be the family's last shot. Fed charges aren't that Likly.

[dusty trails]

50. Maybe the D.A. didn't give 100%

He has to live there and run for re-election.
Maybe he thought his life would be better if Zimmerman got off.
Convicting Zimmerman could have ended the D.A.s career in that area.

[Myrina]

62. I suspect the same ...

I don't think any of them wanted it to go to trial: they did so because they were essentially 'forced' to.
They just wanted to get it over with, get the media et al out of their little suburb and keep their day jobs.

[Unknown Beatle]

52. K&R!!!

[HiPointDem]

53. that's a big one.

[burnodo]

55. even the National Bar Assoc. says it is stalking

Why did I have to have so many arguments with people telling me Zimmerman DIDNT stalk Trayvon?

[valerief]

58. They should disbar everyone in Florida. No more Florida trials.

All Florida trials to be held in a rational state.

[PatrynXX]

59. think the defense should be investigated for racism

because they clearly are talking race..

[Fantastic Anarchist]

63. Hollow Point Bullets?

I didn't know that.

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

[ksoze]

67. Not unusual at all - covered at trial

[Dalai_1]

68. K&R

[red dog 1]

69. K&R

Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, was written by the NRA and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

"It was inevitable that the racially fraught trial would again catapult Florida's law -- which extends protections for the use of deadly force far beyond the bounds of one's home -- as well as those in 21 + states with similar self-defense measures, into the nation's consciousness."

Read more:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/07/15/202418599/stand-your-ground-laws-under-scrutiny-post-zimmerman/

[SleeplessinSoCal]

71. After hearing Ian Masters of Pacifica speak with a defense lawyer in Florida yesterday,

this is very welcome news. He proclaimed himself "a liberal Democrat", but his words were those of an apologist. Saying even that a civil trial was not only uncalled for, but that the Federal Govt. should respect the "jury's decision" and move on.

His name is Weiner.

You can hear the interview via podcast: http://archive.kpfk.org/index.php?shokey=dbriefing

p.s. I just sent the NBA link to Ian Masters. I imagine he will be relieved to know that guy was called out by the NBA.