A travesty of justice

The sentencing of two teens to a maximum of 23 months for the beating death of undocumented immigrant Luis RamĂ*rez is a travesty of justice. In handing down the sentence, Judge William Baldwin expressed frustration with the jury’s verdict, which acquitted the accused of murder, only finding them guilty of assault. A travesty, indeed.



The jury in the small mining town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, had too many doubts when it came time to judge the young men. Even so, there is irrefutable evidence that there was racial provocation by the group of teens, who beat RamĂ*rez ultimately causing his death. It is not terribly relevant whether it was a fight or a beating, or who delivered the blow that killed the immigrant worker and father of two.



The tone of discussion surrounding the case foreshadowed that justice might not be served. The young men were repeatedly described as "good kids who made a mistake," as if beating a person to death was a simple case of bad judgment.

The victim was also blamed such as in this following quote, "If he hadn’t come here illegally, there would be no incident." Likewise, those who called for justice were discredited as "pro-illegal immigration forces," as if this were a debate on immigration.

If these young men had been driving while drunk—as they were during the incident—and killed a pedestrian, there would have been little doubt about the crime. But RamĂ*rez’s ethnicity and illegal immigration status diminished the impact of this a horrific murder.

We are outraged by the RamĂ*rez case. And we are concerned by the sharp increase in hate crimes targeting Latinos and immigrants, according to FBI statistics. Outrageous statements are being heard across the country, like those of former Congressman Tom Tancredo a few weeks ago, who compared the National Council of La Raza to the Klu Klux Klan, as if promoting a community’s progress was equivalent to lynching and burning people because of their race.

The RamĂ*rez case is a blow to the concept of justice. We hope it will be corrected by the Justice Department under the federal hate crimes statute. It is also another manifestation of the climate of resentment toward Latino immigrants that continues to surface —often times violently—across the nation.


http://www.impre.com/laopinion/opinion/ ... 928-2.html