Brickbat: Injustice Is Blind

Darien Harris spent 12 years in prison for murder but was freed last year after it was discovered an eyewitness against him was legally blind. Court records show the man denied under oath that he had vision problems. In fact, he had advanced glaucoma and had been declared legally blind nine years previously. A second eyewitness denied Harris was the shooter. Harris is now suing the Chicago Police Department for violating his civil rights.

Comments

[Mickey Rat]

Vandalism is fine.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/did-i-miss-the-vandalism-is-fine-now-memo/

"Over at the Free Beacon, Adam Kredo confirms:

Thousands of protesters from across the country descended upon downtown D.C. to pressure the Biden administration into forcing a ceasefire on Israel following its weekend military operation in the Gaza Strip that freed four hostages. Slogans such as “Israel go to hell, Hamas is justified” and “Death to Amerikkka” were graffitied on city property, and protesters blocked traffic as they held signs reading, “F— Israel. Stand with Hamas.” Other chants included, “Kill another Zionist now” and “Death to Israel.”

Many of the protesters wore masks and keffiyehs to cover their faces, in apparent violation of a D.C. law that prohibits demonstrations “while wearing any mask, hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer.”

No arrests were made during the day, even as protesters vandalized property and clashed with police, according to law enforcement officials."

"There is no ethical framework I can intuit in which defacing public monuments is acceptable, and no prosecutorial theory I can detect in which it ought to be ignored. Opposition to vandalism is obvious, widely understood, and value neutral. All in all, there cannot be more than 5 percent of Americans who believe that spraying graffiti on statues is okay.

So why allow it? As an American, I’d like an answer. Lafayette Square is a national facility, in the heart of our nation’s capital. It depicts figures from our national history. It’s run by the Department of the Interior, which is a national agency. By dint of my citizenship, I get to care about that. So tell me: What is the policy? Is Lafayette Square exempt from the laws against vandalism? If so, why? Is what happened there indicative of a broader set of regulations that apply to all our national parks? If so, why? Is there a certain threshold of damage that has to be reached prior to an arrest being made? If so, may I see the document that explains those rules? In 2020, we were told that property damage didn’t matter when compared to the sanctity of human life. Have we now applied that rule to mere arrests? When did that start? Or does it perhaps matter who is doing the vandalism? Obviously, such a filter would be legally fraught, given the First Amendment’s ban on viewpoint discrimination and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, so what’s the rubric? Can I read it? Will there be a press conference at which it is adumbrated?"

[Jerry B.]

Can't arrest the children of Democrats.

[Longtobefree]

With the sole exception, enshrined in the constitution no doubt, that you can never, ever, leave skid marks on a government painted pride flag in the street.

(every time I read one of those articles, I picture a city painting a Christian Flag on a crosswalk and protecting it the same way. Or an American Flag for that matter)

[Medulla Oblongata]

https://x.com/ParmisLJavan/status/1797346812589740208

Pro-Hamas supporters disrupt the Israel rally today in NYC with these atrocious signs.

"They're not coming home."
"Kill hostages now!"

[Chumby]

Chicago, a MAGA haven of epic proportions.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Chump don't want no help chump don't get no help

[Will Nonya]

Channeling your inner Barbara Billingsley?

[rbike]

So, justice is truly blind...

[Stuck in California]

Obie looked at the Seeing Eye dog, and then at the twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the Seeing Eye dog and then at twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and began to cry, 'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the judge wasn't going to look at the twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I used to have that memorized, the whole 18 minutes. I still have most of the 27 ... bit memorized.

[Stuck in California]

I don't have it memorized, but I find an awful lot of use for "8 by 10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one."

Also, "Group W bench" comes up surprisingly often.

[Tyval Dayall]

I saw Arlo Guthrie in concert about 30+ years ago, and he pointed out that the length of the song is just about the same length of time that was erased from the Nixon tape. Coincidence?

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's some quality criminal justice. Zero personal consequences, zero incentive to reform.

[mad.casual]

OK, sure. He’s legally blind, they used him as an eyewitness, and another witness refuted his testimony, but the (other) important question is “Was he within 25 ft. of the arrest? And what magnification was the lens he was using/resolution was his camera?”

[Michael Ejercito]

But a jury heard all the evidence and found him guilty! /sarc

[Don't look at me!]

They wouldn’t have arrested him if he wasn’t guilty.

/also sarc

[Michael Ejercito]

I see this argument from those who defend the conviction of Donald Trump.

https://x.com/jaif31/status/1797618549613334888

[SRG2]

It is an idiotic argument, I agree. It is reasonable to regard a conviction as evidence of guilt, not proof.

FWIW in the instant case I wonder whether the jury convicted thinking that if he is innocent, it’ll get sorted out on appeal, notwithstanding the judge’s instructions. One can imagine the argument going, if he did it and we release him, he could do it again, but if he’s innocent, he’ll win an appeal, so better to convict now.

[Michael Ejercito]

Any juror who thinks as you wrote has an ethical and moral obligation to perform seppuku.

They need to be doxxed!

[Gaear Grimsrud]

I'm going to need to know the skin color of everyone involved here.

[Longtobefree]

Not really; all you need to know is it will be the taxpayers paying for everything, not a single one of the lynchers.

[Chumby]

So will the blind guy given his visual impairment.

[mad.casual]

The world is a Mel Brooks film. We're just living in it.

[AT]

I don't understand why he was made for it in the first place.

Harris said he was at home watching a basketball game when the shooting occurred. Moore, the victim, had pulled into a local gas station to look at his vehicle when he was shot three times, according to the Tribune. He ran from the gas station and died in a nearby parking lot. A mechanic who was assisting Moore was shot and injured.

Surveillance video showed a man walking from a black Lexus to the area where the shooting occurred and then running away, the newspaper reported. The man's face was not visible in the video.

How did any of this even put the dude on the suspect list at all? Did Harris have a black Lexus? Anybody ever corroborate his alibi?