Obama Prof Flunks Criminal Law at Sharpton Hate Convention

Obama Prof Flunks Criminal Law at Sharpton Hate Convention: While I respect Barack Obama's--and my--Harvard Law professor, Charles Ogletree, he stepped over the line today when he joined Al Sharpton's race-baiting mob in Washington, DC and said: "I want to see the first black man who uses the 'stand your ground' defense and see if it works. I want to see the first white victim of 'stand your ground' by a black defendant and see if it works."

I know Prof. Ogletree well enough to know he was not calling for murder, but his divisive remarks certainly showed a callous disregard for the potential victim of such a killing.

Ogletree also betrayed a lack of research into the stand your ground defense--an indefensible lapse, given his stature as a lawyer and teacher, and given the inflammatory nature of his statement.

Last month, the Tampa Bay Times compiled a list of 140 cases since 2005 in which the stand your ground law had been invoked in Florida alone. Among those 140 cases, the newspaper reported, there were 11 in which the circumstances were similar to those in which George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.

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