Word: simi
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...acquittal by an all-white jury in Simi Valley, Calif., of four police officers in the Rodney King case last April brought national attention to the racial composition of juries. Last week the Supreme Court held, by a 7-to-2 vote, that defendants cannot exclude people from juries on the basis of their race. The decision limits peremptory challenges, which have traditionally allowed jurors to be excluded from serving without any explanation. "Be it at the hands of the State or the defense," wrote Justice Harry Blackmun for the majority, "if a court allows jurors to be excluded because...
...Simi Valley residents--like their suburban soulmates in Potomac--are proud to say their community is not tainted by the problems of the city, like gang violence and homelessness...
...question: What if the whole Rodney King affair had occurred in the D.C. area rather than in L.A.? What if white D.C. cops had been videotaped beating a Black motorist? What if the trial had been moved from D.C. to Potomac, as it was from L.A. to Simi Valley...
...suburban background and my community's proximity to an urban cesspool, it may seem obvious--at least to some people--what kind of verdict I'd have voted for. Then maybe Southeast D.C., not South-Central L.A., would have gone up in flames last month. And maybe Potomac, not Simi Valley, would become a place associated with the nascent racism of the lily white 'burbs...
...KNOW what the schools in Simi Valley teach, but when I was growing up here in Potomac they taught us about equal rights and equal opportunity for all Americans. Right now, those words are a lot more meaningful for kids on this side of the Montgomery County-D.C. border than on the other...