TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Letters To The Editor

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2007

No More Boot Camps

Regarding 'Acquitted On all Counts' (front page, Oct. 13):

From the first time I saw it, I cannot get the vision out of my mind: a tape of seven, dark-clad adults surrounding, pummeling and kneeing a boy on the ground - seven of them!

The seven grown men who had beaten him did nothing wrong. A jury just said so.

I am so sorry for 14 year-old Martin Lee Anderson, his family, all who love him and who love justice. Justice failed us all this time. Let us not ever forget it is the Martin Lee Anderson Act that means no more boot camps in Florida.

If we must constrain law-breaking, resisting juveniles, so be it. If the best we can do is lock them up, alright. But let us never again have a system in place that allows a jury to say 'not guilty' when anyone beats our children to death.

STEVE WEBB

Tampa

Guards Not Responsible

Like many people, after viewing snippets of the boot camp video, I believed that Martin Lee Anderson had received a brutal beating, succumbed to his injuries shortly afterward, and that the autopsy was a blatant cover-up. The testimony and evidence presented during the recent trial, however, revealed this to be untrue.

What looks like a beating is actually an orchestrated effort to get a recalcitrant offender to continue exercising. The blows were struck to cause compliance, not to cause injury. The second autopsy showed no broken bones, no bruised or damaged organs, which surely would have occurred during a beating of almost 30 minutes by several men

No evidence was presented showing that Anderson's death was caused by the direct actions of the guards or by their negligence. Any fair, open-minded juror, black or white, would have returned the same verdict.

MICHAEL McQUEEN

Brandon

The Jury Has Ruled

Again, we may be faced with an issue where race may hold the trump card.

Whether they were guilty or innocent, the jury has ruled, but a retrial is most certain.

We were not at the trial to see the evidence for or against the staff so we shouldn't make wrongful decisions.

I am upset that a young man lost his life when he might have been steered in the right direction, but I will wait for the proper verdict if the recently returned verdict was wrong.

JACK VERMEULEN

Zephyrhills

Feds Should Step In

I was shocked but sadly not surprised by the boot camp jury decision. What a shame.

Hopefully the federal government will now investigate and follow up. I pray that the nurse involved will have here license revoked immediately and for life for her lack complete lack of professionalism by standing there and watching that beating of that young man.

ROSS P. ALANDER

Tampa

No Sense In This

There is something definitely wrong here.

Our military are not allowed in anyway to abuse or torture captured enemies of our country. These are people who may have information to stop future terrorist attacks and save American lives but they are coddled.

We have a young boy, Martin Lee Anderson, one of our own, and he is abused to death and the guilty go free. Where is the sense in this?

EVIE ALLEN

Brandon

A Sad Commentary

The 'not guilty' verdict of seven officers and a nurse in the Martin Lee Anderson case is sickening. As a former juvenile-diversion hearing officer, I learned that a troubled teen is best motivated to better his or herself with encouragement and discipline (not physical) coupled with a proper understanding of how our society values 'right' and 'wrong' behavior. Education, diligence and positive support are keys to achieve these goals, not beatings.

The nurse's actions (or lack thereof) were criminal. For these individuals to walk away from their venal acts is terrifying and a sad commentary of our justice system.

MARYANN GIULIANO

New Port Richey

Prosecution Was Flawed

This case was not about justice, it was about emotion, expediency and patronage, particularly on the part of the governors and the Florida Legislature.

The recent national spate of rushed, flawed and unnecessary prosecutions is alarming and unacceptable. Innocent citizens are frequently subjected to financial ruin and loss of health, and reputation. Prosecutors have forgotten how to nolle prosequi (decline prosecution) when there is not clear and convincing evidence of a crime, and judges are fearful of dismissing such cases for fear of peer criticism or public (media)rebuke. Modern conventional wisdom in difficult cases is to abdicate responsibility and 'let a jury decide.'

Martin Lee Anderson was such a troubled youth.The solution lies with training educators and police to recognize troubled youth at an early age and diverting them to special training and education in such facilities as faith-based homes and the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches.

LANE BONNER

Plant City

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT