Equal Protection?
"The Los Angeles City Council has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of a Venice High School student, 17." So reports CBS Channel 2 / KCAL Channel 9.That's fine.
How about rewards for the killers of the other 203 people who have been murdered in Los Angeles this year? That would be $10,150,000, by the way. Would it be worth $10 million to convict the murderers of over 200 people?
If someone you loved were murdered, wouldn't you expect as much? Or do we measure the value of a life by the media attention it generated?
Posted by Walter Moore @ 6/14/2006 07:08:00 PM
7 Comments:
Seems to me all 203 did get "equal protection".
In other words, NO protection.
They're all equally dead, right?
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, among other thing, "No State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
A cynic would call this a PR move, and while they may be right, a more likely reason to selectively advertise a 50,000 reward is good police strategy.
A $50,000 reward for a thug will do two things:
1. It'll make the perp a little more nervous, and maybe a little more sloppy. It'll certainly make him a little more paranoid of his friends. It might cause him to argue with his friends, and strain relationships.
2. Building off number 1, it may very well lead to a friend of his to anonymously rat the man out for the easy $50k.
These are likely high school kids who want to live an OG lifestyle, so they may very well take the bait.
And a highschool shooting is more of a priority to solve than many other murders. Its high profile, messes with the rep of the neighborhood, and if not dealt with could invite more crime.
They were all gang members!
Why not offer a $50,000 for the arrest and execution of every gang member in LA?
The only good gangbanger is a dead gangbanger!
A student was murdered inside a public school. 'Nuff said.
The council should double the damn reward!
So we're clear, I support offering the reward for this boy's murderer. That's not the issue. Rather, the issue, to me, is why we don't offer the same award for everyone murdered in our City.
Does anyone know how each district decides when or to which murder to offer the award? In South LA they have more homicides than any other part of the city. The Eastside has a lot of gang murders. So how does the council members give more credence to one family and not the other?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home