FBI agents already interviewed more than 40 people who knew Zimmerman, from the time he was growing up to his employers, co-workers, friends, personnel at shops he frequented and even an ex-girlfriend and her mother. The FBI has investigated Zimmerman for more than a year. They know everyone with whom he has had meaningful contact with since the day he born. If not, they aren't good investigators and should be replaced. Either send agents out to interview his known acquaintances they may have skipped on the first go-around, or shut it down. Don't send out an invitation for people to make stuff up. This email solicitation is nothing but an invitation to manufacture evidence.
Holder should stick to what he first said. DOJ will handle the probe with compassion and the truth. He should treat the Martin family with compassion when DOJ delivers the truth that there is no evidence to support a civil rights case against George Zimmerman.
What a colossal waste of financial resources and Justice Department funds. It's an example of how Congress has overfunded the Department of Justice. As federal public defender and probation offices face more furloughs and cuts, and lawyers who accept federal indigent defense cases are having payments of their fees deferred due to sequestration cuts, the Department of Justice has enough money to burn and enough staff to sort through email tips, the vast majority of which will come from an emotionally charged uninformed public who never knew Zimmerman, and enough manpower to then assign federal agents to investigate the "tips" it thinks may have credibility.
The shooting death of Trayvon Martin is not a national act of terrorism needing further leads to stop the next attack. George Zimmerman was acquitted after a trial at which the state presented evidence gathered from local police, the FDLE and the FBI, all of whom investigated Zimmerman's background hoping to find proof of his evil, profiling state of mind.
This panderfest will also put a larger target on the back of a man whom a jury has declared not guilty, based on the state's failure to prove ill-will, hatred, spite or evil intent, and failure to disprove self-defense. It will encourage people to follow him hoping to gather evidence to submit to the email box.
Zimmerman may want to wire up when he goes out in public in case the checkout clerk at the grocery store who he asks for change submits a tip that while GZ was checking out, GZ used a racial slur when addressing him or someone else in line, or even better, confessed to him he shot Martin because he hated him on sight.
If DOJ really wants to address the problems minorities face in the criminal justice system, it can start by returning some money from its budget to Congress with a request it be reallocated to the Judiciary, so federal defenders and indigent defense counsel who represent the minorities the Justice Department has selected for prosecution can have an adequate defense.
Anyone concerned about racial disparity in the criminal justice system should be lobbying Congress to
pass supplemental funding for defender services, not chasing ghosts in George Zimmerman's closet. If the concern is that children need to be safe walking home, consider the impact of sequestration cuts:
Sequestration also will compromise the safety of local communities. It has reduced funding for probation and pretrial officer staffing, which means less deterrence, detection and response to a possible resumed criminal activity by federal defendants and offenders in the community. In addition, law enforcement funding to support GPS and other electronic monitoring of potentially dangerous defendants and offenders has been cut by 20%. Equivalent cuts to funding for drug testing, substance abuse and mental health treatment of federal defendants and offenders have also been made, increasing further the risk to public safety.
Factoid:
For every taxpayer dollar, only two-tenths of one penny went toward funding the entire Federal Judiciary, a co-equal third branch of our government.
Help fight disparity in our criminal justice system. Support the Judiciary's 2013 Request for Emergency Supplemental Funding.
