So OJ Simpson Is Up For Parole….
So OJ Simpson Is Up For Parole….
I recalled correctly then I happened to be taking some law-school prep courses at Seton Hall when I heard the literal balling/weeping of the mostly White students; this conspicuous outburst of emotions took place when the not guilty verdict of the OJ Simpson’s trial for the murder of Nicole-Brown-Simpson came down. Circa, nine years ago, OJ was sentenced to some thirty-three years for basically seeking to recover his own football memorabilia, and tomorrow, OJ is up for parole. Like most others, I would not have known about the pending hearing for Mr. Simpson’s Parole had it not being reported on the various sports’ networks… with the question being asked: should OJ Simpson be granted Parole, after serving only nine of the thirty-three year sentence?
Notwithstanding what we may feel about Mr. Simpson’s murder acquittal - he should be granted Parole! I know that many of us are going to say that the thirty-three years OJ is presently serving was some form of karma, or moreover, as we Christians say, Judgment, but our form of the Rule of Law does not operate that way. What criminal you know gets thirty-three years for what is tantamount to stealing his/her own memorabilia and having said criminal also having no priors… there are pedophiles and even murderers who are walking around breathing Jesus’ air. It was a miscarriage of justice - in my humble opinion - for the current sentence Mr. Simpson is serving; surely, one may surmise that the judge in that trial was thinking of Mr. Simpson’s murder acquittal when he sentenced OJ to thirty-three years, even though it was his judicial discretion to do so.
I would be remiss and imprudent if I did not write about the chasm between the races that the OJ Simpson murder trial exposed in America then, and, which seems to still exists in 2017. On a personal note, I have always thought that Mr. Simpson was guilty of murdering his wife - the issue for me then and now is that many Whites did not then or now believe that there were times when the police had and have manufactured evidence to frame minorities… when our history shows that. Now, I have to be careful not to judge all police departments collectively for such miscarriage of justice… but it has happened.
Years ago, I was in the United States Army in Germany and I recalled hearing about the arrest of a Black man in Boston, Massachusetts, for the brutal murder of a lady that happened to be nine-months pregnant. The outrage for that murder was such that in a few days, a Black man was paraded on Boston television… with the police saying that he had confessed to the murder of the pregnant lady. Long story short, the brother of the husband of the murdered lady came forward and told the authorities that his brother had murdered his wife. Those of you who want to research this case may do so and if I recalled correctly that the husband and wife owned a fur business and that he had murdered his wife and then dumped her body in a river for the insurance policy proceeds he had taken out on his wife.
There is an obscure passage in our venerable Constitution that says that says that no Attainder of Treason shall work corruption of blood, which means that a convicted traitor like Benedict Arnold’s children should not have to suffer for the crimes of their father - at least legally. Nonetheless, we know that, more than likely, the children of noteworthy criminals, especially those criminals that are involved in cause célèbre cases, suffer socially by way of being treated like pariahs for the deeds of their parents. However, the OJ Simpson murder trial seems to have worked this ‘corruption of blood’ on our society because I can make a cogent case that the judge in the Simpson subsequent theft trial seemed to have taken into consideration OJ’s acquittal of the murder of his wife… manifested in what seems to be a draconian sentence/punishment in the latter OJ trial.
Our rule of law incorporates legal concepts such as Double Jeopardy; Motion-in-Limine; and prevents the introduction of evidence of other crimes, by a given defendant, because said evidence may be too prejudicial and that it would outweigh its probative value. I must remind you once again that these legal concepts assist mostly seasoned convicted criminals - unlike OJ Simpson - yet it appears that they were not recognized during OJ’s theft trial. To that end, Mr. Simpson must be granted Parole!
I have used the song, The Weight, as performed by The Band/The Staple Singers, from the movie, The Last Waltz, to help flesh out the themes of this blog… drill down into the hyperlink to follow and enjoy the honey-suckle voices of Pops/Mavis Staples and the incomparable, Levon Helm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccJTFXvkXkA
