Reflections on the George Zimmerman Case and Verdict

The last trial I remember with as much of a media circus surrounding it was that of Casey Anthony. At the time I just sort of observed the outcry surrounding that verdict with no real strong emotion, thinking that the jury had done their job, taking in all the evidence and, finding nothing that could prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, acquitting.

With the George Zimmerman case, it's a little different.

Once again, I see no real benefit to a court case being so high-profile. It sucks people in to the emotion, but doesn't actually serve justice.

But.

I did get sucked in enough this time to actually care about the outcome and to be disappointed when the alleged perpetrator was acquitted.

I think it's because of the various social issues surrounding the case: self-defense, gun laws related self defense, and, of course, the big "elephant in the room," racism.

Even if no one could prove that Zimmerman stalked and then shot Trayvon Martin out of racial bias or hatred, the case shows how much racial division and prejudice is still at work in America.

I actually thought that Zimmerman was probably more generally paranoid than overtly racist - his behavior as a neighborhood watchman to me reflected an abnormal fear of crime/criminals and I'm surprised that, as far as I've heard, no one gave him any kind of psychiatric evaluation.

But clearly he had been following Martin because he deemed him a criminal, and the case is a reminder that for many, the image of "criminal" is still "young black male."

And then there's the claims of self-defense. This is what bothers me about the verdict: no one could prove that Zimmerman was acting out of malice, but I think that claiming self-defense sort of falls apart when the person claiming to be defending his or her life was the person  following the unarmed victim in the first place.

Unfortunately, in this case, the law does not agree.

So, while the loss of the life of an unarmed teenager is tragic enough, the Zimmerman case adds a lot of thorny social issues to the picture.