Civil Justice Doesn’t Compensate for Criminal Actions
A Texas jury entered a $9 million verdict in favor of a black man who was beaten by four young white men in 2003. The victim now resides in a nursing home, receiving care necessitated by the permanant brain damage he sustained in the beating. Criminal charges were filed against the young men, who had apparently lured the man (described as “slow”) to an underage drinking spot, fed him alcohol, taunted him, and then beat him and left him unconscious in the pasture. None of them served more than sixty days in jail, and it seems that was just fine with the local district attorney, who pointed out that the beating was “one punch” and seemed to suggest that it was only natural for the jury to be sympathetic to these first-time offenders.
I practiced criminal law for years, and I’m a big fan of giving a break to first-time offenders. Young kids who are headed off to college and do something stupid like shoplift on a bet and end up arrested–by all means, let’s prevent a felony record and get them back on track. The twenty-year-old college kid with a beer in his hand six months before his birthday, or with a quarter of an ounce of marijuana in his pocket…let’s shake him up a little, clean him up, and send him home. (Ironically, mandatory minimum sentences in some states and in the federal criminal justice system would offer no leeway–that kid would serve a lot more time than the ones who rendered Billy Ray Johnson unable to care for himself for the rest of his life.)
But luring someone to a remote location, getting him drunk, verbally abusing him, and then beating him to the point of unconsciousness and leaving him alone in a field, potentially to die of his injuries, is a shade different from stealing your neighbor’s car to take a quick ride around the block before you have your driver’s license. Fortunately, this Texas jury sent a clear message that human life is valuable, regardless of color or intellect or financial means. It’s unfortunate, though, that it had to do so on the heels of a criminal system that said the opposite.
