Jeffrey (Lynching Authority) Lord digs a deeper hole

[blogslut]

For those unaware, American Prospect contributor and former Reagan WH political director, Jeffrey Lord wrote a piece on Shirley Sherrod so heinous, even his fellow conservatives condemned him:

The American Spectator’s embarrassingly ignorant attack on Sherrod

July 26, 2010 12:41 pm ET by Terry Krepel

Jeffrey Lord begins his July 26 American Spectator article with this provocative assertion:

Shirley Sherrod's story in her now famous speech about the lynching of a relative is not true. The veracity and credibility of the onetime Agriculture Department bureaucrat at the center of the explosive controversy between the NAACP and conservative media activist Andrew Breitbart is now directly under challenge. By nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court. All of them dead.

Actually, not so much (except for the part about the Supreme Court justices in question being dead -- Lord did get that right).

Lord is writing about a reference in Sherrod’s now-famous speech to a county sheriff in segregation-era Georgia by the name of Claude Screws. To summarize the case: Screws and two other law enforcement officials arrested a black man named Bobby Hall at his home on a warrant over a theft charge; he was handcuffed and taken to the courthouse. According to the Supreme Court ruling that this case ultimately resulted in, when Hall got out of the car at the courthouse, Screws and his companions began beating him with fists and blackjacks, and continued beating for as much as a half-hour after Hall had been knocked to the ground. Hall was then dragged feet first through the courthouse yard into the jail. He was later taken to a hospital, where he died. Screws and his companions claimed that Hall had reached for a gun and had used insulting language against them, but there was also evidence that Screws had a grudge against Hall and threatened to “get” him. Screws and his companions were convicted of depriving Hall of his civil rights; that conviction was appealed to the Supreme Court, which in 1945 essentially overturned Screws’ conviction on a technicality over jury instructions.

“Claude Screws lynched a black man,” Sherrod said in her speech. This is false, Lord asserts. Why? Because Screws and his companions didn’t use a rope, and the court ruling didn’t use the word “lynching.”

link: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007260030

Today, Mr. Lord publishes a rebuttal and well, it is astounding:

Well, somebody had to do it. That fool has caused more trouble…but I like the guy so, here we go.

First, for the definition issue.

Random House Webster's College Dictionary defines lynching as: "to put to death, esp. hanging by mob action and without legal authority."

I have read the Court's decision. Three people are not a "mob." A mob is defined as a "large crowd." So there was no "mob action" because there was no mob. Second, the Supreme Court specifically said the Sheriff and his deputy and a local policeman acted "under color of law." Which means they had legal authority.

So to say that Bobby Hall was lynched is, factually, according to the Supreme Court and, if you prefer, Webster's, not true. No mob. Therefore no "mob action." And the three had "legal authority." So my new friend Radley "Boo" Balko over at Reason pounced…and got it wrong instantly...

<snip>

Anytime. Next time, Boo…read the dictionary AND the case.

Your pal, Atticus Lord.

link: http://spectator.org/blog/2010/07/27/jeff-lord-defends-jeffrey-lord

[joeybee12]

1. Hey jackass, "especially" does not mean "solely" DOES NOT HAVE TO BE

BY A MOB...ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[roguevalley]

10. since when, Clarence Darrow, does 'color of the law' give you the

right to kill someone? And since when do the rantings of a court that spoke for an era count? If this is still viable, then let the lynchings and murders begin. what a claptrap. this is all rot. semantics excuses murder?

[lame54]

2. They had "legal authority" to beat him to death?

[lame54]

3. here is an online definition that does not include the word mob...

lynch (lnch)
tr.v. lynched, lynch·ing, lynch·es
To punish (a person) without legal process or authority, especially by hanging, for a perceived offense or as an act of bigotry.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Lynch

[ljm2002]

4. "...the Supreme Court specifically said"...

..."the Sheriff and his deputy and a local policeman acted "under color of law." Which means they had legal authority."

The legal definition of the term "under color of law":

"UNDER COLOR OF LAW

When a person acts or purports to act in the performance of official duties under any law, ordinance, or regulation."

from http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/u001.htm

Note the phrase "or purports to act"... i.e., "under color of law" can make an offense worse, if those who commit the illegal act do so AS IF they are acting legally and AS IF they have legal authority to do what they are doing.

And another citation for good measure:

"COLOR OF LAW Civil Rights Violations

From FBI website at http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/color.htm

It is a crime for one or more persons acting under color of law willfully to deprive or conspire to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

"Color of law" simply means that the person doing the act is using power given to him or her by a governmental agency (local, state or federal).

Criminal acts under color of law include acts not only done by local, state, or federal officials within the bounds or limits of their lawful authority, but also acts done beyond the bounds of their lawful authority. Off-duty conduct may also be covered under color of law, if the perpetrator asserted their official status in some manner.

Color of law may include public officials who are not law enforcement officers, for example, judges and prosecutors, as well as, in some circumstances, non governmental employees who are asserting state authority, such as private security guards.

While the federal authority to investigate color of law type violations extends to any official acting under "color of law", the vast majority of the allegations are against the law enforcement community."

from http://www.familyrightsassociation.com/info/fbi/fbi_color_of_law.htm

[Scurrilous]

5. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Doctor_J]

6. Man, conservatives can get away with anything

is this had happened in reverse the offending lefty would have already lost his job, all future prospects, and a lot of money, and been bombarded with death threats.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Ain't that the truth

Hell, even Shirley Sherrod got death threats. AFTER she was vindicated.

[EFerrari]

8. And CNN would be headlining the comments. n/t

[glitch]

9. Doubles down on ASSHOLE. Next he'll get his own tv show on Fox. nt