Justice served in Martin case

7/21/2013

Your July 16 editorial “The Zimmerman verdict” was absolutely right. The trial is over; the verdict is in; justice has been served. That’s the way our justice system works, and rightly so.

However, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder apparently does not see it that way. He said: “We will never stop working to ensure that — in every case, in every circumstance, and in every community — justice must be done.” He implies that justice was not done in the Zimmerman case, which is not his prerogative.

Mr. Holder is supposed to support the justice system, and that system has spoken. Everyone may not agree with the verdict, and that is everyone’s right.

If Mr. Holder had backbone, he would support our justice system and not tell people that, in effect, justice has not been done.

BRUCE WHARRAM

Sylvania Township


Investigate all hate crimes

To put to rest the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, I am anxiously awaiting a full-scale investigation of alleged hate-crime violations to be conducted by Mr. Holder and his staff at the Justice Department (“Attorney general condemns ‘Stand Your Ground’; NAACP is urging civil rights charges against Zimmerman,” July 17).

I would also expect them to investigate hate crimes committed elsewhere. Perhaps the Justice Department could hire civil rights advocates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as the lead investigators.

ROLLIND ROMANOFF

Sylvania Township

 

Block watch rules clearly defined

I have been a neighborhood block watch participant for 24 years. I and others undergo extensive training; we never have been instructed to carry a gun.

The boundaries, roles, and responsibilities of a block watch member are clear. Our responsibility is to observe; collect information such as license plate numbers, street addresses, and detailed descriptions of suspects and automobiles, and report everything to the police for investigation, pursuit, and arrest.

Mr. Zimmerman, who was part of a neighborhood watch group, chose not to trust the system. When Mr. Zimmerman was instructed not to pursue Trayvon Martin, he took matters into his own hands and became a vigilante with a gun.

This is not an issue of legal rights, civil rights, or social rights. It is a human-rights issue that citizens in every locality need to address.

KATHRYN GRAYSON

Devinci Drive

 

Guns have taken over our society

I’ve always liked sweatshirts and jackets with hoods, because I pull the hood up when it rains or snows. I never considered that I could be perceived as being up to no good because of the way I dressed.

Being followed because of such erroneous suspicions never entered my mind. It will now.

I live in a condominium development. I wonder about my fellow residents: Who might be carrying a loaded gun, and who might make impulsive, lethal decisions?

Guns have overtaken our society. Rather than being safer, we’re in much more danger than ever before in my lifetime.

JEANNIE JONES

Springfield Township