Legal question: Can they get Zimmerman for violating Trayvon Martin's civil rights?

[LongTomH]

That was the only way to get justice during the worst years of white supremecist violence.

[Pelican]

1. I've been hearing this all day...

... and it reminds me of the South Park episode where Cartman goes to jail for his hate crime.

Judge during his ruling...

"You need to know that if you are going to hurt someone you had damn well make sure they are the same color as you. Take his fat little butt to jail!"

[Laelth]

2. If Zimmerman has no assets, a civil suit against him (of any kind) is useless.

I can tell you, as an attorney who handles these kinds of cases from the Plaintiff's side, that my first question is, "Does the Defendant have any assets?" If he or she does not, a civil action against that Defendant is useless, unless Plaintiff is willing to pay me in advance to do it, in which case I worry that Plaintiff's only goal is to hurt the Defendant, and that raises ethical problems for me.

The goal of a civil action is to "make the Plaintiff whole," i.e. to compensate the Plaintiff for an injury he or she suffered. If the Defendant has no assets, this goal can not be achieved, so the only purpose for a civil suit would be vengeance, and that's not an ethical purpose for which to invoke the law in a civil case. Vengeance is, I would add, an acceptable outcome and a recognized goal of the criminal law, but not the civil law.

For what that's worth.

-Laelth


Cross-post from another thread asking the same question, here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3252402

[LongTomH]

3. The question was about a civil RIGHTS case - not a civil suit!

This was a remedy used decades ago when white supremacists killed blacks and were acquitted by white supremacist juries. The Federal Department of Justice brought a case against the killers in federal court, and usually won. The killers got less time than they would have for murder; but, they did spend time behind bars.

[Laelth]

4. A civil rights action under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a civil suit. n/t

-Laelth

[Laelth]

5. On the other hand ...

It appears that the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, thinks Federal criminal charges for a civil rights violation may still be on the table.

Federal prosecutors could still charge Zimmerman with violating Trayvon Martin’s civil rights.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/310865-reid-on-zimmerman-this-isnt-over-with?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer3ae0a&utm_medium=twitte

If you ask me, further prosecution of Zimmerman on this issue will run into double jeopardy issues, but I suggest that you to listen to the vastly more powerful Senate Majority Leader as opposed to me.

-Laelth

[Ruby the Liberal]

6. So the 2 cops who were found guilty of beating Rodney King

in the civil rights case - that is an ethical issue?

[TheKentuckian]

9. Officers of the state are going to be in a direct position to violate

I think that is a much easier bar to clear when you have the obligation to protect people's rights and betray it than getting a common citizen one on one. Not saying it is impossible but the comparison is a bit on the apples and oranges side here and how much or how little depends on the past case precedents in pretty specific regards. I'd tend to say from previous reading this probably wouldn't be an ideal case. No conspiracy, the difficulty in establishing forethought, one on one, no direct witnesses.

Everybody that gets shot isn't a civil rights case and that is the only logic that I've really seen that Martin is deprived of his civil rights because he was killed, that would be the case every time.

[Ruby the Liberal]

11. Interesting.

Thanks for that insight.

[kentuck]

7. Who said "life" was a "civil right"?

[Hugabear]

10. Really?

If life itself isn't a civil right, then we have no civil rights at all.

[jwirr]

8. I would think so but to me it seems an issue of IF the feds will do anything. They are doing so

little about almost anything else.

[mnhtnbb]

12. The NAACP has already made a request to the DOJ to file charges against Zimmerman

for violation of Martin's civil rights.

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/07/14/naacp-asks-obama-administration-to-file-civil-rights-charges-against-zimmerman-79659