2301 - 16 week students are looking at civil rights this week and in class yesterday I mentioned a couple of federal agencies that handle civil rights disputes, including the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The division is in the news today since it announced it will investigate the recent killing of an African American teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
Local law enforcement has refused to arrest the volunteer, which lead to calls for the national government to become involved. The Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division has jurisdiction over the matter. What makes this - potentially - a civil rights matter is the racial element and the question about whether the killing was motivated by race. This coupled with the fact that local and state authorities seem uninterested in pursuing the matter.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus want this pursued as a hate crime.
Update: A Grand Jury in Florida will investigate the case.
From the New Republic: What a Florida Teenager's Death Tells Us About Being Black in America.
