Zimmerman to be charged...

So, I've been quiet on the murder of Trayvon Martin. That being said, I think what happened to him was a hate crime and that Martin was only guilty of walking while black.

According to Florida Special Prosecutor, Angela Corey, she is charging George Zimmerman with the shooting of Martin. At this point, we're not really sure what the charges are going to be. Zimmerman claims to have been acting in self-defense when he gunned down the unarmed Martin, who was only 17 years old. Zimmerman was not charged yet because of Florida's "kill at will" law or "stand your ground" law depending on how you view it.

This comes the day after Zimmerman's attorneys step down; they claim they haven't been in contact with Zimmerman.

Essentially, Zimmerman killed a black kid, and the police were taking his side. After realizing that Martin was a cute kid and quickly becoming the poster child for violence against unarmed black men, the Florida Prosecutor's Office changed their minds.

There has been a lot of "extra" information circulating, my favorite of which being that Martin had an empty plastic bag on him that once carried pot. I guess the logic here is that as a country we're ready to execute kids smoking pot or carrying anything that may be used or has been used for pot. What do you think they'll do over prescription drugs? Probably nothing, because like all US drug policy it will be heavily raced.

The charges are manslaughter in the second degree.

Hate Crime or Freedom of Speech?

I don’t think of myself as prudish or conservative in most aspects of y life, however then I read an article and can’t help but feel outraged. www.UPI.com featured an article called Aloud_blogger_appears_in_court. Apparently, there is an all girl pop group called Girl Aloud in England. A man, Darryn Walker, is accused of violating England’s obscenity law, Obscene Publications Act, by blogging about the fictional rape and murder of this all girl pop group. This blogged fiction is about 12 pages long, and features the kidnapping, rape, multination, and murder of the girls. This case is considered the first real test of the act since pornography has become so readily available via the Internet; it also appears to be the first case involving the written word.

This caught my attention because as I said I don’t want hinder freedom of speech, and I accept different standards for those in the public eye. But is it just me, or is this blogged fiction hate speech? Of course I also consider rape a hate crime. (Definitions are taken from Dictionary.Reference.com).