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Boot Camp Trial Awakens Specter Of Racial Inequality In Courts

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By CHUCK HOBBS

Published: October 19, 2007

Often it has been said that 'the past becomes prologue.' This best describes the verdict and aftermath of the Martin Lee Anderson case last week where the Bay County Courthouse was more reminiscent of our state's segregationist past as opposed to our multi-ethnic present.

In the moments before a jury rendered its verdict against the eight defendants charged with manslaughter in Anderson's death, several defense attorneys stood smiling and talking loudly, confident their clients would be exonerated. On the left side of the courtroom sat a number of friends and relatives of the accused. As six of the eight defendants were white, a majority of their supporters were white as well.

On the right sat Martin Anderson's parents, Gina and Robert, flanked by their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, and a number of black relatives, ministers and friends. As I took my seat, Crump whispered that the family was 'seeking to make history.'

Most certainly history was made in Bay County last week, but of the ignominious sort. With the acquittal of the eight defendants, Martin Lee Anderson now joins a long list of young black men who suffered at the hands of mobs or law enforcement officers that failed to protect them.

With the NAACP and a number of state legislators urging federal investigation in the event of an acquittal in the Anderson case, shortly after the verdict local United States Attorney Gregory Miller issued a press release indicating that his office had been following the case and intended to thoroughly investigate the facts.

As we consider what we have learned from this tragedy, it is important to remember that in Florida the juvenile justice system is designed to focus on the best interest of the child. In theory, when a child is remanded to the juvenile system, the state is substituted as the parent. Part of the defense theory in the trial was that Anderson failed to comply with orders. What parent, if their child is seriously misbehaving or ignoring their demands, would repeatedly beat their child?

While the defense argued the boy died from exertion because he carried the sickle cell trait, the truth is any reasonable parent would have stopped to determine if the child was feigning illness, plain and simple. The guards had clear alternatives, from placing Anderson into isolation to recommending expulsion from the program and having him placed into a secure juvenile facility. These guards, however, recklessly chose to use excessive force until Anderson eventually collapsed and died.

In this tragic case not only were the defendants on trial, but our entire child welfare system stood trial in the court of public opinion. Until we are collectively outraged when the sanctity of any child's life is violated by irresponsible adults, the notions of juvenile justice will prove to be just an ideal, not a reality.

Chuck Hobbs, Esquire, is legal adviser to the State Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the chair of the Legal Redress Committee for the Tallahassee Branch of the NAACP. Reach him at chuck_hobbs@yahoo.com.

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