Man jailed for putting noose on black teen

A man in Clearwater Florida was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ten months probation for putting a noose around the shoulders of a black teen.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A man accused of draping a noose around the shoulders of a black teen at a fast food restaurant was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail.He says incident was a dare for $10

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The jury went easy on him, for some reason they did not want to label this a hate crime! Our society will never get better until we get rid of these kinds of "jokes" and stereotypes, and set an example by punishing these people to the full extent of the law. Racial humor is rampant and as long as people laugh at this kind of thing it will continue.

I agree completely, and don't find anything amusing about racial humor. And to cap that off, good for the jury. I'm so tired of courts deciding the african american population is so weak that they need a crutch to stand on. Any crime committed against someone with a different skin color is not considered, or can be considered, a hate crime. Does this cause us to forget about race? NO! It causes us to concentrate on race far more. "Ok, this guy is mugging me. He has the gun to my head, it should be pretty easy disarming him, breaking his arm and calling the cops. Oh, wait, he's black. I could get nailed for a hate crime defending myself. Guess I'll just have to kill him and hope noone notices.," Ok, a little extreme, but I've been in similar situations. People are so fixated on removing race as an issue. The problem is that as long as you're concentrating on it, race isn't going to go away. Rome had a lot of problems, but one of them wasn't prejudice based on skin color. All Romans were alike, and they didn't have hate crime. Could it (oh my gosh!) be that we're doing something wrong instead of right with hate crime legislation?

I can't stand the whole "Hate Crime" label. We can't hold people accountable for what they think, only what they do. You can hate someone all you want for any reason you wish. Your thoughts don't hurt others, it's your actions. Think about it. How many murders are done out of pure love? Of course it's a hate crime. Hopefully the punshment would be the same if it was done to a non-minority.

*I'm a minority and I approve this message*

His punishment is criminal in itself. My God ... the idiot probably
caused untold psychological damage to that poor kid. Sick S.O.B.!!!

What criminal act is he charged with? What line of legal code did he break? Is it a type of assault?

Why isn't it charged as a hate crime? There was no physical damage done, its purely a hate crime, even tho the kid who dared him to do it was half black himself.

junglejake
Oh, wait, he's black. I could get nailed for a hate crime defending myself. Guess I'll just have to kill him and hope noone notices.," Ok, a little extreme

Not as extreme as one might think. There was man on the NYC subway who was accosted' by a gaggle of black teens. He beleived they were thugs who were going to rob him, he shot them and drove them off. He was arrested. Later in life, they were all convicted criminals, except one who was paralyzed from the waist down from the shooting. Either way, its difficult to say exactly what was going on.

Nygdan - are you talking about Bernard Gehtz?
(excuse spelling). The fellow who got in trouble
for self defense in the NYC subway?

(he did the right thing)

I only agree with what this guy did if the black man in question was OJ. Otherwise it was a hate crime and the guy should be punished accordingly.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
Nygdan - are you talking about Bernard Gehtz?

Bernie gehtz, thats the guy. There were no hate crimes laws back then either, so I imagine things might've been different if it happened today too.