Well, you all know by now. The three defendants in the Arbery case were found guilty.
Definitely a big difference from the Rittenhouse case last week.
However, while I was worried about the Rittenhouse case, I was confident that Arbery would have a conviction.
The reason? The jury make-up. And I am not talking about racial make-up either. While the Rittenhouse jury was made of 7 women and 5 men (roughly 55 % women), the jury in Arbery was 9 women and 3 men (75% women).
Why is this important? In both cases, you have two cases where white men claim self-defense and defense of property. Now, there are many reasons why Rittenhouse was found not guilty (17 year old kid, prosecutor missteps, the fact that Wisconsin had alot of violent rioting that was mostly absent in Georgia, etc.) But the fact that women made up a large majority of the Arbery jury was important too.
To all the mothers out there (or anyone who has had to care for multiple kids). Imagine you have one child who violently attacked another child. Inevitably, the attacking child will give justification. "He stole my toy!" "He attacked me and I defended myself."
A good parent will ask "why didn't you tell me so I can handle it?"
Yes, this is a huge simplication, but the same principle applies. Women, who are all too often the primary child care providers and educators have more emphasis on rules and authority. Women are more likely to want parties to exhaust all possible avenues before resorting to violence.
Basically, this jury was more female minded.
Men, on the other hand, tend to be more sympathetic to the "protect property at all costs." Again, this is not true for everyone, as there are many men who prefer letting police handle matters as opposed to vigilante justice.
Again, there are many factors involved in a trial, and the male/female ratio is only one such factor. However, I believe that the overwhelming female majority of the Arbery jury (3 to 1 ratio) versus the Rittenhousr jury (barely 50 % on both sides) was a key component on who the jury sympathized with in the end.
Male/ female violence played a big role too. I am a white female. While I can't claim widescale injustice the same way that other groups can, the fact remains that I, like all women, must always be on guard against rape/assault.
If I am jogging through a neighborhood and three men with a gun and trucks tried to get me to stop, I would run too. Because multiple strangers trying to take my liberty means gang rape and murder to me. It would not matter if they shouted citizens arrest or not.
I guarantee those nine women in the Arbery jury thought the exact same thing.
When my husband was a child in 5th grade, he went next door to a house which was still being built and threw rocks at the insulation that was exposed in the walls which had not yet been drywalled. The construction workers knocked on the door to his house the next day and spoke with his father who questioned all his kids and discovered what my future husband had caused the damage. He got in major trouble with his father and some sort of restitution was made as well as an apology.
I can't imagine someone being chased down and executed for walking on the grounds of a home construction site after hours. Even if that person vandalized the property which was not the case for Arbery.
I am so grateful this verdict was reached today. A willful unjust murder took place and the criminals who are responsible have been found guilty.
May Ahmaud Arbery be held in love and may his spirit be at peace. May his family feel the love of the nation this Thanksgiving.
Mark Meadow has agreed to testify for the January 6 Commitee
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under President Donald J. Trump, has reached an agreement with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to provide documents and sit for a deposition, the panel said on Tuesday, a stunning reversal for a crucial witness in the inquiry.
@allyn I too, feel that, while their defense denied letting more than one black be on the jury? They ignored the number of women at their own peril... those women? Grew up with those kind of men. Those women? Are mothers ..with a mother's heart. To see and hear his mother's pain and be aware her son was modern day lynched...and that she would not give up on getting Justice for him.. for being brave and steadfast no matter what they threw at her.. insisting on them being held accountable... touched their knowledge of those kind of men and their mothers hearts ... and this time ? Justice prevailed. Yes, we are Southern... but as the Bitter Southerner says... We believe in a new South. https://bittersoutherner.com
@jessi1978 He learned there is no executive privilege to protect him ... so he's rolling over... he's afraid of jail... more fear of jail than of TFG. Once he breaks ... some others will too.
@journeywithme2 I have this nagging feeling that Meadows is "playing" the committee. I hope I'm wrong.
@lenor I have my own doubts, but I keep reminding myself that while the depositions/testimony that the commission is gathering from such high-profile people are certainly important, the commission has already interviewed/deposed over 200 lower-level people in TFG's circle, so discrepancies - intentional or otherwise - in Meadow's testimony may well be pretty glaringly obvious.