Castle doctrine: Constitutional right to steal without interference?
Is a case of beer worth a man’s life? Of course not. Did the clerk make a terrible mistake in shooting Hawthorne in the heat of the moment? Yes. But this incident didn’t happen in a vacuum. Consider these facts.
•Convenience store clerk Daljit Singh, 51, was shot in the abdomen during a robbery on Nov. 3, 2005, and died later at University of Mississippi Medical Center.
•Convenience store clerk Manav Virmani was shot twice at close range at Mac’s Convenience Store on July 2, 2001. Virmani, a college student working at the store in Canton for the summer, was shot as he prepared to close the store.
That only scratches the surface of such crimes in Jackson. The Indian and Sikh communities in Jackson have been victimized by crime and fear is rampant of these often violent exchanges between low-wage store clerks and people who intend to rob them.
It is always interesting to hear activists or politicians try to talk around what basically is an assertion of some vague constitutional right to steal from or rob someone without interference or without the expectation of harm.
Sorry, I don’t buy it. There’s a perfectly easy way to avoid being shot for something as asinine as stealing beer. Stop stealing.
Sid Salter Blog
Clarion Ledger
8/20/8
Magnolia Tribune
