When "Neighborhood Watch" Gets Out of Hand

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

http://www.officer.com/news/10719063...tely-avoidable

There is no argument there. We know that if Zimmerman didn't get out of his car and follow Martin that the incident wouldn't have happened. But that is irrelevant in terms of the law. If a woman goes over to a stranger's apartment and gets raped, sure it is true that the rape was ultimately avoidable if the woman would have used better judgement and not gone to a stranger's apartment. That may be true but it is totally irrelevant in terms of the law. A woman's bad judgement doesn't make it legal for a guy to rape her. Zimmerman did not engage in any unlawful behavior. It is not a crime to follow someone. It is not a crime to carry a gun in Florida if you have a permit. Zimmerman used bad judgement but he didn't break any laws.

Zimmerman was doing a very aggressive version of neighborhood watch. It wasn't very smart but it wasn't a crime.

The incident was ultimately avoidable if Martin would have called the police about a suspicious person following him. You can't take the law into your own hands and physically assault a person just because you are pissed that they were following you for a little while.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/d...icle-1.1080161