ACLU: Shame on You

I’ve been an admirer of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for 50 years; was once a card carrying member; and still believe that it’s a fine organization dedicated to the critically important cause of preserving the Bill of Rights and personal constitutional liberty for all Americans.

The ACLU by my reckoning during the last half century has been mostly correct in its assessment and actions on controversial issues of the day concerning civil and constitutional rights, even though the organization of late seems dominated by far too many left wing ideologues.

Sometimes when it comes to civil liberties, these far left ideologues predictably get it horribly wrong. That’s what I learned once again today when I received this “urgent” ACLU Action email entitled:

“We can't let what happened to Trayvon Martin happen again

Dear Timothy,

When I learned that George Zimmerman was found ‘not guilty’ for the murder of Trayvon Martin, my heart immediately went out to his mother.

Trayvon's mother is living my worst fear—of what can happen to my own 23-year-old black son because of the color of his skin.

I've had to teach my son how his racial identity can be an invitation to scorn and mistreatment. I even announced his return from boarding school to neighbors once, to be safe: "Don't be alarmed if you see a black kid walking around; he's my son and he lives here."

From being stopped in the streets without cause to the way police handle cases—for the accused and for victims like Trayvon—countless Americans are racially profiled every day.

Racial profiling violates our Constitution and American values—and sends dangerous signals to people like George Zimmerman. If we're to prevent more tragedies like Trayvon, we must tackle the racial bias that undermines our justice system.

The End Racial Profiling Act, currently in Congress, would help make clear that people should be judged by what they do, not the color of their skin.

Please sign the petition now urging Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act and put a stop to racial bias in law enforcement.

Here's just some of what the End Racial Profiling Act would do to clean up our justice system:

·        Prohibit racial profiling in law enforcement, backed by a private right of action.

·        Mandate law enforcement training on racial profiling, as well as data collection.

·        Make law enforcement funding contingent on effective policies that prohibit profiling.

The Zimmerman verdict has sparked a national conversation—now we need to turn that into action. Because unless Americans work together to end the practice of racial profiling, the precautions I and many other parents of color take will never be enough.

Please sign the petition now urging Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act.

As Americans try to make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and people ask what “justice” really means for people of color in our system, I feel that we must use this opportunity to acknowledge the real ways that racial bias plays out in society.

Passing a law to eradicate racial profiling from law enforcement would be a step towards creating a more just justice system.

If we're to prevent more tragedies like Trayvon, we must tackle the racial bias that undermines our justice system. Urge Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act.

          ACT NOW  

Thank you,

Laura Murphy for the ACLU Action team”

Oh, please!

This is the largest wagonload of bullshit I’ve heard about in months!

Did this misguided woman not pay the slightest bit of attention to the actual evidence produced at George Zimmerman’s trial?

Clearly she did not.

From what I know in a nutshell about that evidence it is apparent that Zimmerman, a self appointed neighborhood watchman, was following Martin that night because there had been a series of burglaries in the vicinity and he was suspicious that Martin might be a burglar.

When Martin discovered that he was being followed he called his girlfriend complaining that a “white assed cracker” was following him. Then Martin angrily confronted Zimmerman, jumped him, and while on top of him punched his face repeatedly, breaking his nose, and pounded his head against the pavement causing bloody injuries.

Zimmerman, fearing for his life, while flat on his back with Martin on top of him pinning him down and beating on him, screamed for help and finally pulled out his gun to shoot Martin. Unfortunately for Martin, he died.

This was not a murder beyond a reasonable doubt. This was not manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence just didn’t come close to supporting those charges. This was a classic case of self defense. Racial profiling had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to Martin, except for the fact that it was he who was racially profiling Zimmerman as a “white assed cracker.” The only evidence of racial bias was in Martin’s mind.

In short, Trayvon Martin wasn’t murdered. He was shot by Zimmerman in self defense. So the jury verdict of not guilty was wholly proper and in accordance with the evidence.

This incident did not involve law enforcement engaging in racial profiling, far from it, but even if it did, if race is part of the profile of a criminal who has been committing crimes, there is certainly nothing wrong with making an assessment as to whether a particular individual under suspicion fits that profile.

There is nothing wrong with profiling suspects as long as the motive is not based solely  upon the suspect’s race. If a suspect fits the profile of what witnesses have described as the person who committed a crime it is perfectly proper to employ that profile to search for the criminal.  

So I cannot help but say: ACLU: Shame on you!