http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/george_zimmerman_afraid_of_being_UWxL8AHEIjCLzlbwv14seK

Another one for the 'Duh' drawer.  George Zimmerman is afraid of being killed in jail.

Gee...let's see...he's been labeled (fairly or unfairly, we don't know yet and probably never will- though I expect that if he is convicted and put in prison, when he comes out, he will be) as a racist.  He's being put into a population of people, some of whom may not be the most thought-out people in society- they may not care about things such as 'nuance.' 

A few thoughts- we'll probably never know what happened that night- but I think everyone will agree that unless something huge happened that we aren't aware of yet, he should not have exited his car.  So I wonder, when he was acting like a tough guy, if he considered the consequences of his actions?  Anyone can be a big man with a gun- the true big man doesn't get into situations where he has to use it, and attempts to de-escalate any situations he finds himself in.  This does NOT appear to be what happened.

Secondly, to simplify, this case has split along political lines with liberals backing Mr Martin and the conservatives backing Mr Zimmerman.  I wish nothing bad on anyone in jail- and in fact Zjabs is the ONLY person on this site to ever write a column condemning prison rape.  If Mr Zimmerman is treated poorly in prison (as I expect he will be), it will be funny to see the 'tough on crime' crowd suddenly realizing that there but the grace of god go them...and if they ever have to spend a night in lockup...it's probably made a little better without being beaten and raped.  They will be shocked (shocked I say, shocked) at the treatment Zimmerman receives in jail, and begin to scream about this- ignoring the fact that it goes on every day, under the state's watchful eye.

Which is my hope- that if Zimmerman is found guilty, maybe some good can come out of the entire ordeal- prison reform.  Given that everyone knows the conditions in prison are brutal (everyone makes jokes about having a cellmate named Bubba, etc), and that these prisoners are under state control...well...it seems to me that the state has to know that this kind of thing goes on as well.  Given that, and given that they are doing nothing to stop it.... can you say 'RICO'?  Or at least a class action lawsuit like no other?

-Zjabs (Rochester's Official Columnist)

© 2012 Zjabs - 4/18/12