By arthur Weinreb
Friday, March 18, 2005The United States is still reeling from the killings in atlanta where Brian Nichols, on trial for serious allegations of violence including rape, managed to overpower a guard and get a gun. When the carnage had ended, a judge, a court reporter, a sheriff’s deputy and an immigration officer lay dead.
The killings raised a debate about security in american courts. Specifically, questions were asked about whether or not enough deputies are assigned to guard prisoners and many questioned the policy that some courts have of allowing the accused to remain unrestrained, no matter how dangerous they are, because to do otherwise would go against the presumption of innocence.
But other than Fox News, talk radio and many mostly conservative blog sites, most of the mainstream media shied away from a major issue on the grounds of political correctness. Nichols, who the day before had been found to have had two homemade knives concealed on his person, was being guarded a lone deputy sheriff’s officer — a five foot, one inch 51-year-old grandmother.
Nichols had been a former college football player and by all accounts was built like a linebacker. By those media organizations that dared to discuss this topic, it was pointed out that had he been guarded by a sole male deputy who was younger and bigger than the woman who was assigned to escort him, he may not have tried to overpower his jailer. and even if he did, his actions would have led to a fight instead of a beating and his escape and subsequent deaths of four innocent people would not have been the certainty that it was.
On the day following Nichols’ escape from the Fulton County Court House he surrendered in front of the media. The cameras were focused on a lone woman law enforcement officer having custody of Nichols while leading him to an SUV. The situation was different from the day before — Nichols was restrained and was surrounded by hundreds of officers, many with automatic weapons. But one has to wonder whether the fact that he was again guarded by a woman was just a random circumstance or whether law enforcement was intentionally making a political statement.
Political correctness has gotten to the point where debate upon the obvious (that a middle aged tiny grandmother should not be guarding a huge, violent man) has to be avoided. Those media that had the courage to bring up the size and gender factor should be congratulated.