Strong opinions about Trayvon Martin's murder

[wercal]

54. This is an interesting aspect to the case that hasn't been discussed much:

"People (even black men!) have just as much a right to exist in public as he did."

Define 'public'. This was not a public right of way, since it was in a gated community. Now in all likelyhood, the roads in the community are in an easement dedicated to public use...but the sidewalks in back usually aren't. Still, there is a difference between an easement and a ROW...as the underlying property covered by the easement is still private property.

So, in alot of ways, this would not be unlike seeing a stranger in the hallway of your apartment building...and it would generally be acceptable to approach such a person and ask if he's lost, etc....and if that person took off running, it would be reasonable to assume he was up to no good.

...but, there is the racial profiling component. Several years ago, the Dillards department store chain was successfully sued for racial profiling...since their employees were following black people throughout the store. This is private property...but its public use (where the customers are invited in) made it subject to some 'public' rules. And, it could reasonably be argued that this gated community was similar.

So its an open question - but please don't confuse a gated community with a public space, in the most traditional definition. It is a different flavor of public.