8 charges are being placed on him. 7 felonies and a misdemeanor. That works out to 100 or so years. And if anyone thinks he won’t go to jail is either very drugged or in need of psychiatric help. The nation, or segments of it, has been waiting for this opportunity for a decade.
I have talked to several friends over the weekend and the fact is that every single person I spoke with expects OJ to get convicted and receive the full penalty of the law. This has nothing to do with his actual guilt or innocence of this alleged crime, but the continued desire to punish him for his prior trial. This is the retribution for his innocent verdict. As one friend mentioned
No matter what the article is about him, they say the same thing, "A jury found Simpson not guilty of the crimes" not that "he was innocent".
It’s that pervading anger, as expressed best by Sheppard Smith on Friday (which I wrote about), that will convict OJ. He could have been J-walking and the result would be the same. Yet is this justice?
What about the Kennedy cousin that fled prosecution of a rape? What about Ted Kennedy getting away with murder? There are many cases of rich Whites getting away with murder, and multiple murders, without persecution after their trials simply because they could afford the defense or could buy their way out of it. The anger of the nation has not followed them for years afterward, waiting to pounce on them. It just doesn’t happen.
There is no analog I can think of that matches this. There is no jury I can imagine that won’t convict him. And it has nothing to do with any charge against him. America, most of it, just wants to see him die in jail. This is just a means to get this to happen. So much for a fair legal system.
Yes OJ has not been very helpful with his own actions. The book and several minor incidents, all well documented and followed by the media, have kept him in the eye of the news. Still that has nothing to do with the constant reference to OJ Simpson in virtually every murder cases since he was proven innocent in a court of law. It is not the reason why such glee fills the major news media and cable television networks. It is not why people are shouting to OJ,
“There’s no Johnny this time! You are going to jail, there’s no Johnny this time!”
Already there are questions being brought up on this case as well. A co-conspirator has come forward with an audio tape of the incident. Its legal validity is questionable, not unlike the Monica Lewinsky tapes, as their was no permission given or knowledge of the taping known. I must ask, why would anyone tape such an event? Who walks around with an audio recording device in their pocket? Have you ever seen someone go to a wedding, and just tape the audio? Seems odd to me.
But the real issue behind all this is the anger that an African American was not punished by the law in regard to an alleged crime against Whites. The fact that he was found innocent does not matter. A Black man can’t be accused of a crime against Whites and not be punished, that is the persistent and obvious facts of this. But Whites don’t get this same treatment.
I’ve written about the whisper of news given to Jonathan Riches. This White man killed 2 Black men, over 40 years ago; people including the local police knew it and he just was convicted at the end of his life. The major news media couldn’t honor the slain men with coverage of this news of delayed justice.
I wrote about Megan Williams, atrociously abused mentally, sexually, and physically for days by 6 Whites in West Virginia. If you have heard about the case, which most any person I have spoken to has not, you are in the minority. Thankfully I am aware of several blogs that have covered this. Yet the major news media, with far more resources than any individual blogger, and the ability to discuss this on a national level, seem incapable of following the story. And the federal government seems unwilling to use the hate crime laws instituted just for cases like this.
But OJ is the story. Not that a man who can’t eat in a restaurant a decade after his innocence was found by a jury, that included Whites, probably can’t get a fair trial anywhere in the nation. Not that this has become a matter of money for most involved. The major news media and the families of Goldman and Brown. That “despicable” book that both families initially claimed should ‘never be published’ is now the #1 on Amazon (as I understand). Not that an inadmissible audio tape, that has not been confirmed as OJ’s voice, is being played to the nation and prejudicing any potential jury pool. Not that this is again the most covered news story, beyond ANYTHING else happening in the world today.
Imagine for a moment that you are an African American (if you are not). Imagine what this says to you. If you are accused of a crime against a White you are screwed. Especially if it is as serious as murder. You will be considered guilty, regardless of the circumstances from day one. The media will delve into every aspect of your life and publicize every negative you’ve ever done or been accused of. If you lose your trial, you will face the harshest of penalties. If you win, you are still guilty and will be pursued until something else can be found to convict you on. Any time you spend free will be filled with suspicion and anger. You will be a greater target than ever before.
Does that feeling fill you with a love of the legal system? Do you feel that Justice is equal in this nation? Do you get the impression that you can be tried fairly?
Add to that feeling that some Whites in this nation have gotten away with murder. Not just the famous ones, but just regular people. As long as they killed African Americans. Free without question or attention for 4 decades or more. And those that are caught doing the most heinous of crimes, against Blacks, are barely mentioned. Whether they are cops in shootings that make no sense (Sean Bell and Amidou Diallo), or inflicting violent attacks (Rodney King among many others), or a group of Whites in West Virginia and other places (Abner Louima).
As you, the person of color in America, go through a mall and followed by security, or are shunned in an elevator, or questioned at the pharmacy, or have state troopers pull you over – guns drawn – for speeding 5 miles over the limit in the middle of the day as cars were passing you 10 miles an hour or more faster, you have to wonder how safe you really are.
American has an issue with color. Justice is hardly colorblind. The truth of this is disturbing. Maybe not to Average Joe, in the Middle of America where there are 2% population of Blacks, and spending 3% of your income trying to get a darker (temporary) color to your skin. Average Joe doesn’t worry about being shot by police while going home or in your car. Officers don’t pull their guns as a normal course of their duties, to White Average Joe. But have some color that doesn’t fade in a couple of days. Then you realize you can never be Average Joe, and that you aren’t safe, the legal system is broken, and the media is definitely not fair or your friend.
Imagine having to live with all that on your back. And this is the good life. This is after decades of struggles for equality. This is after centuries of persecution. And this is as good as it gets. How do you feel, hearing that OJ is arrested, and knowing that his trial will inevitably lead to a life imprisonment. Would you be happy?
This is what I think, what do you think?
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