Albrette "Gigi" Ransom
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "van Hoogstraten, Daniel" <Daniel.vanhoog@mail.house.gov>
To: "van Hoogstraten, Daniel" <Daniel.vanhoog@mail.house.gov>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2013 5:11 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Norton Focuses on a Federal Civil Rights Remedy and a Lasting Legacy for Trayvon Martin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Daniel van HoogstratenJuly 15, 2013 o: 202-225-8050c: 202-225-8143Norton Focuses on a Federal Civil Rights Remedy and a Lasting Legacy for Trayvon MartinWASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys, issued the following statement on the jury verdict in State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman, where Zimmerman was found not guilty of the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin. Norton's office also noted that the case is likely to figure into the first hearing of the recently established Caucus on Black Men and Boys, on Wednesday, July 24th, 2013, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The hearing, which will be focused on ensuring African American boys grow into strong men, will feature three prominent Black men – former Congressman and former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, author and Georgetown University professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans David J. Johns – discussing issues facing Black boys, youth, and men from their earliest years to manhood and fatherhood. More details on the Caucus hearing will be released shortly."Racial animus is necessary for a federal civil rights action to succeed in the Trayvon Martin case. However, regardless of whether Trayvon Martin's death is found to be racially motivated in a court of law, his life and death have become emblematic of the pervasive racial stereotyping and diminished opportunities of Black males throughout our country."Trayvon Martin's family had to struggle for a month-and-a-half even to get an arrest and investigation into their son's death. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has an obligation to continue the investigation it opened. In the past, the DOJ has brought civil rights actions in death and even in injury cases. For example, the Rodney King case, where a state jury acquitted all of the police officers accused of beating King, but a federal civil rights action brought by the DOJ resulted in conviction of two of the officers. The Zimmerman case did not involve a police officer, but the DOJ, particularly in the South, has brought civil rights actions against individuals after state juries have acquitted."We cannot know whether Trayvon Martin will ever receive the justice his family seeks in the courts, but there are ways for his loss to move justice forward. We must redouble our efforts to repeal the Stand Your Ground laws in the 24 states where they exist. This is not impossible. The National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council rammed Stand Your Ground laws quickly through nearly half the states, but Trayvon Martin's killing stopped such laws from being pressed further. We can continue by demanding the repeal of Stand Your Ground laws, beginning with Florida. It should be clear that, in some states, such laws can amount to a license to kill."Stand Your Ground laws, particularly in states like Florida, a southern state covered by the Voting Rights Act, with a tragic race-based criminal justice history as well, invite tragedy. Unfortunately, the Trayvon Martin case has left the impression that self-defense can now be used when a white man takes aggressive action, like following a Black man."Moreover, we also must not forget that Trayvon Martin never got to exercise the right to vote in the state of Florida. If we do not update Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, invalidated by the Supreme Court last month, people of color and future Trayvon Martins may find it difficult to vote in states like Florida in order to keep laws like Stand Your Ground from going into effect."###
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