If Zimmerman gets off, can the federal government bring charges for civil rights violations?

[Sheldon Cooper]

Sorry if this has been addressed before. Thanks.

[GreenStormCloud]

1. Holder is said to be looking into it. N/T

[pipoman]

2. Has anyone who knows him or interviewed him claimed him to be

a racist?

"Civil rights violations" indicates someone's constitutional rights have been violated. Civil rights is usually a term used describing constitutional rights/rights enumerated in the BoR. The only people who can be charged with actual "civil rights violations" are government officials...the government is the only entity which can violate your civil rights/liberties. When an employer, for instance, refuses to hire someone based on their race, it is a violation of employment law or acts of congress, not violation of the person's constitutional rights.

"Hate crimes" require some demonstrable race/creed/color/religion, etc. hatred..by all accounts I have read/heard Zimmerman has no history of such things..

"Reasonable doubt" is the standard...a good standard...what it means is that some guilty people go free....with a lesser standard, many more innocent would be convicted which is a much greater tragedy IMHO..

Oh, and then there is "double jeopardy"..no, I am pretty adverse to the feds charging people who the state fails to convict. I think he may still get a conviction on the lying under oath about money and some other similar charges.

[davidn3600]

3. It'd be an even higher burden of proof

You can't try him for murder. That would be double jeopardy. The civil rights thing can only be brought if you can prove Zimmerman killed Trayvon because of his race.

I dont see how you can prove that. The 911 tapes is not proof Zimmerman hates black people.