Charles Blow, a New York Times op-ed columnist, highlighted the media’s role in the Trayvon Martin case at the 10th Annual Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations Spring Lecture on March 20 at UF Law. (Photo by Haley Stracher)

By Jenna Box (3JM)
Student Writer

A man with a gun. A dead teen. A hoodie.

These images have been burned into the minds of Americans as symbols interracial crime, the use of deadly force and diversity in media coverage and crime reporting.

A little more than a year ago, the tragic shooting of a 17-year-old black teen walking home in a hoodie in Sanford, Fla., made waves across national media outlets.

On March 20, the 10^th Annual Spring Lecture put on by the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations titled “At Close Range: The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin,” brought myriad questions about this case to light through a variety of interdisciplinary panels.

Keynote speaker Charles Blow, a New York Times op-ed columnist, highlighted the media’s role, and experts from nine University of Florida departments offered insight from their unique fields at the all-day event filmed by C-SPAN.

“Academic exploration of public policy issues from a multitude of perspectives cannot only deepen our own understanding but also help build a foundation for thoughtful policy making by those who create the laws, regulations and rules that govern all of us,” Dean Robert Jerry said as he opened the event to a packed audience in UF Law’s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180.

The case has all the elements of a good story, Blow said: guns and murder, an unarmed boy and a suspicious man, racial profiling and threat responses. The combination of these raised some tough legal, social and racial questions.

Blow mentioned how the victim’s race has affected news coverage. Outside of Florida, he said, the only journalists who seem to write about the case are relatively young black men like him. Also, he mentioned the common topic of discussion: whether a black teen wearing a hoodie was enough to cause “suspicion.”

The arguments that “the way he behaved, the things that he wore, suggested he was not worthy of life past Feb. 26 fall short,” Blow said. “There is nothing that you can wear that gives someone license to shoot someone in the chest.”

Additionally, Blow spoke passionately about the “cocoon” media consumers place themselves in.

“People prefer to be affirmed in their beliefs than challenged,” he said. “I believe that is what we’ve seen in the Trayvon Martin case. People know what they want to believe and only listen to sources who confirm it.”

Alongside Blow, representatives from the UF departments of African-American studies; anthropology; English; health services; history; journalism and communications; philosophy; political science; and sociology, criminology and law, gave lectures and answered questions earlier in the day.

“[Blow] was an exceptional choice,” said Katheryn Russell-Brown, director of CSRRR, Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law and organizer of the event. “He was pitch-perfect and was able to use the case to discuss broader issues of journalism, politics and justice. This was a chance to talk across race, across disciplines on a wide range of issues.”

More than a year after the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, legal, social and cultural questions raised by the case are still being discussed across the country. The Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations will analyze a number of these questions during the 10^th annual CSRRR Spring Lecture, which will bring together experts from nine different departments at UF along with keynote speaker, New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow.

“At Close Range: The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin,” will take place Wednesday at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180. The panel presentations will be from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Blow’s keynote lecture will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and law school parking restrictions will be lifted in the green lots. The event will also be webcast at http://mediasite.video.ufl.edu/Mediasite/Play/0bb612b41ae84a359f258f135abb99321d.

The panels will look at a wide variety of issues raised by the case, from a multitude of academic perspectives. Some of the featured panels include “Jim Crow Riding High: The 21^st Century Assault on African-American Voting Rights in Florida,” “Half-Baked: Weed, Race and the Demonization of Trayvon Martin,” and “Racial Profiling, Security and Human Rights.”

“The Trayvon Martin case is a social touchstone precisely because it serves up topics we’re uncomfortable talking about in public, including race, crime, policing, interracial crime, use of deadly force, black crime victims, Southern race relations, media representations of race, and gun control,” said Katheryn Russell-Brown, director of the CSRRR and Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law. “The case offers an important opportunity for us to learn about, discuss and debate these myriad and overlapping issues. Our Spring Lecture event will contribute to the national discussion of the case and emphasize policy recommendations.”

The departments of political science; health services; philosophy; sociology, criminology and law; journalism and communications; history; English; anthropology, and African-American studies will all be represented. The academic papers, which comprise the basis for the panel discussions, will be compiled for the first installment in a new series in collaboration with UF Law’s Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. The panel agendas and abstracts for the papers can be seen in the Collections of the UF Law Scholarship Repository at, http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/csrrr_events/10thspringlecture/panels/. For more information regarding the spring lecture, please visit the CSRRR homepage, http://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/centers/csrrr.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law’s CSRRR is committed to fostering communities of dialogue on race. The center creates and supports programs designed to enhance race-related curriculum development for faculty, staff and students in collegiate and professional schools. Of the five U.S. law schools with race centers, the CSRRR is uniquely focused on curriculum development.

About Charles Blow

After graduating cum laude from Grambling State University, keynote speaker Blow joined The New York Times in 1994 as a graphics editor and quickly became the paper’s graphics director, a position he held for nine years. The Louisiana native went on to become the paper’s design director for news before leaving in 2006 to become the art director of National Geographic Magazine.

Blow often appears on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Starting Point and AC360. He has also appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and Hardball with Chris Matthews, Fox News’ Fox and Friends, the BBC and Al Jazeera, as well as numerous radio programs.

More than a year after the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, legal, social and cultural questions raised by the case are still being discussed across the country. The Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations will analyze a number of these questions during the 10^th annual CSRRR Spring Lecture, which will bring together experts from nine different departments at UF along with keynote speaker, New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow.

“At Close Range: The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin,” will take place March 20, at the University of Florida Levin College of Law in the Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom, HOL 180. The panel presentations will be from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and Blow’s keynote lecture will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and law school parking restrictions will be lifted in the green lots.

The panels will look at a wide variety of issues raised by the case, from a multitude of academic perspectives. Some of the featured panels include “Jim Crow Riding High: The 21^st Century Assault on African-American Voting Rights in Florida,” “Half-Baked: Weed, Race and the Demonization of Trayvon Martin,” and “Racial Profiling, Security and Human Rights.”

“The Trayvon Martin case is a social touchstone precisely because it serves up topics we’re uncomfortable talking about in public, including race, crime, policing, interracial crime, use of deadly force, black crime victims, Southern race relations, media representations of race, and gun control,” said Katheryn Russell-Brown, director of the CSRRR and Chesterfield Smith Professor of Law. “The case offers an important opportunity for us to learn about, discuss and debate these myriad and overlapping issues. Our Spring Lecture event will contribute to the national discussion of the case and emphasize policy recommendations.”

The departments of political science; health services; philosophy; sociology, criminology and law; journalism and communications; history; English; anthropology, and African-American studies will all be represented. The academic papers, which comprise the basis for the panel discussions, will be compiled for the first installment in a new series in collaboration with UF Law’s Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center. The panel agendas and abstracts for the papers can be seen in the Collections of the UF Law Scholarship Repository at, http://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/csrrr_events/10thspringlecture/panels/. For more information regarding the spring lecture, please visit the CSRRR homepage, http://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/centers/csrrr.

The University of Florida Levin College of Law’s CSRRR is committed to fostering communities of dialogue on race. The center creates and supports programs designed to enhance race-related curriculum development for faculty, staff and students in collegiate and professional schools. Of the five U.S. law schools with race centers, the CSRRR is uniquely focused on curriculum development.

About Charles Blow

After graduating cum laude from Grambling State University, keynote speaker Blow joined The New York Times in 1994 as a graphics editor and quickly became the paper’s graphics director, a position he held for nine years. The Louisiana native went on to become the paper’s design director for news before leaving in 2006 to become the art director of National Geographic Magazine.

Blow often appears on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, Starting Point and AC360. He has also appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell and Hardball with Chris Matthews, Fox News’ Fox and Friends, the BBC and Al Jazeera, as well as numerous radio programs.

In September, the task force appointed by Gov. Rick Scott convened to hear the CJC’s findings. Acting Criminal Justice Center Director Monique Haughton-Worrell reported that the CJC research was inconclusive about whether there is a definite relationship between the homicide rate in Florida and 2005’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

“The data that we collected in response to the task force is insufficient to provide a conclusion on this issue. It’s a complex issue, requiring complex analysis,” Worrell said at the September meeting, according to the Tampa Bay Times. A more in-depth study would be necessary to make a correlation between Stand Your Ground and increasing crime rates, she said.

The task force released its final report in November, backing the framework of the law, while suggesting more specific guidelines about the roles of neighborhood watch volunteers and removing automatic immunity from criminal prosecution for those who claim Stand Your Ground as a defense.

Mike Panella (3L) has a motto: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8-9.

Earlier this year, Panella witnessed the intense media attention on the Trayvon Martin shooting, which unfolded into the George Zimmerman case. True to his motto, he became determined to be a part of Zimmerman’s defense team, headed by Mark O’Mara.

“When I first heard of the tragic events of Feb. 26th, 2012, I was appalled.  However, after I started learning that we may not have gotten the whole story initially, and saw the way Mark was handling this case, I knew I needed to be a part of it,” Panella said.

Zimmerman, a Hispanic neighborhood watch leader, shot and killed the unarmed teenager, who is black, on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder and is claiming self-defense. A Self-Defense/Immunity Hearing is expected in April 2013.

Over the course of a month, Panella sent certified letters, made numerous calls, and finally showed up in front of O’Mara’s Orlando office one Saturday evening for an impromptu interview. Less than a week later, he landed a summer internship.

But what was to be a summer internship became a year-long journey into one of the most talked about criminal cases in the United States. To continue working on Zimmerman’s case, Panella moved to Orlando with his wife to become a transient student at Florida A&M University for his last year of law school.

Panella is now part of an eight-person defense team including, in addition to O’Mara, several interns, a media consultant, and Defense Attorney Don West. Since joining, Panella had the opportunity to be a part of many strategic decisions, such as drafting both a motion for recusal, and ultimately a successful petition for writ of prohibition to the 5th District Court of Appeal.

“I remember some nights being in the office until 11 p.m. putting together the over 400-page appendix that accompanied our petition,” Panella said.

Zimmerman’s case, unlike most criminal cases, has the added complication of intense social and cultural components, which brings heightened media scrutiny.

“I have had a unique, inside opportunity to learn how powerful and, indeed in this case, how devastating an effect the media can have on the public perception of a defendant,” Panella said.

According to Panella, Zimmerman’s case is so unusual that the defense team sometimes “considers doing the opposite of a normal case.” Thus, an everyday request for discovery may include an in-depth analysis into repercussions, such as public records requests that might be forthcoming from the media.

“It is a real battle,” Panella said. Although there is concern for how the publicity will affect the selection of an impartial jury, Panella remains hopeful.

“I am in good company with the Supreme Court in thinking jurors have the ability to be impartial,” Panella said.

Despite the worries that accompany a high profile case, Panella feels fortunate to work for O’Mara, who is a specialist in his field.

“Mark has done an incredible job of incorporating all members of our small ‘team’ into the defense strategy. He has included me in many, if not most of the decisions we make,” Panella said.

The desire to work on Zimmerman’s case emanated from Panella’s life-long passion for the law and the unique ability a lawyer has to protect the innocent. Panella credits a change in his perception of criminal defense to the federal public defenders he spoke to before attending law school.

“It was giving a voice to the voiceless, and seeing a situation in a different light – that many times you, as the lawyer, are the only thing that stands between your client and an overbearing government,” Panella said.

Since his first year of law school, Panella devoted much of his time to working with criminal defense attorneys in Gainesville. According to Panella, these experiences helped to develop his passion.

As for what the future may bring, Panella hopes to see Zimmerman’s case to the end and use the knowledge he gained from the experience to continue practicing criminal defense after graduation.

“If I can be a part of helping to bring this thing to a peaceful resolution, then this case has absolutely solidified my desire to honestly help those who may not be in the position to defend themselves.”

Students, faculty and other members of the UF Law community gathered March 28 to hear the CSRRR panel, which discussed the legal aspects of the Trayvon Martin case. (Photo by Maggie Powers)

It would be three weeks after Trayvon Martin’s body lay on the sidewalk before Michelle Jacobs heard the Sanford, Fla., boy’s name.

“The media wasn’t interested in Trayvon Martin,” Jacobs told a packed crowd March 28 at the UF Law Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations panel that discussed the case that has stoked a national debate and left many with troubled hearts and unanswered questions. “Trayvon Martin wasn’t newsworthy.”

And that’s because Martin’s story is one that’s been told before.

Martin was fatally shot in the Orlando suburb by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, while walking home from a convenience store Feb. 26. Martin was unarmed, but Zimmerman shot Martin in what he said was an act of self-defense.

Jacobs had only heard of Martin after discussing “the talk” with fellow professor Monique Haughton-Worrell that black mothers are forced to have with their sons about subserviently obeying police officers when — not if — they’re confronted by law enforcement.

By the time Jacobs had that conversation with Haughton-Worrell, the 17-year-old had nearly been forgotten after three weeks.

Now, after almost 2.3 million online petition signatures, a social media stampede calling for “Justice for Trayvon” and a delayed media whirlwind, Martin has become the latest poster boy for the searing racial tensions in America.

The two-and-a-half-hour CSRRR event, “A Conversation on the Shooting Death of Trayvon Martin,” featured a panel of four black law professors, two white law professors and an audience that tried to understand the messy legal web with Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” statute at its epicenter.

Going so far as to call it a “bad law,” Michael Seigel, criminal law professor and director of the Criminal Justice Center and the criminal clinics, said the stand your ground statute — the self-defense law Zimmerman invoked in the death of Martin — has a host of internal issues that need to be revised.

“(Stand your ground) has put a chill factor on prosecutors to do their job,” Seigel said.

Many panelists agreed, including Haughton-Worrell, who went so far as to say Zimmerman would not be sent to prison in Martin’s death.

The law’s record seems to echo Seigel.

According to a Tampa Bay Times March analysis, defendants have invoked the stand your ground statute at least 130 times since the law’s 2005 birth. Of those cases, 28 have been brought to trial, and 19 of those instances resulted in a guilty verdict.

But beyond the stand your ground statute, the Martin case has created a media firestorm and nationwide outpourings of grief because of its racial undertones.

“One reason this case has got so much attention is because it’s racialized from top to bottom,” panelist and law professor Kenneth Nunn added.

Jacobs added to the discussion of the “racialization of Trayvon Martin” by suggesting the case was impacted by racism before it even began.

In order for self-defense to become a legitimate rallying cry, Nunn said, a victim must feel it is a “reasonable” occasion to use force.

According to Jacobs, the ever-present social perceptions of black Americans have created a “reasonable” suspicion of violence that will, according to her, allow Zimmerman to use this defense in his case.

“If you turn on the TV just once, you are infected by American racism,” Jacobs added. “The normative racist values that drive the American justice system — that’s what the Trayvon Martin case is all about.”

The panel also featured Katheryn Russell-Brown, director of the CSRRR, and law professor George Dekle.