People who have families in Wisconsin that go back more than 100 years have ancestral memories of surprising, uninvited, visitors. In the 1800's, the indigenous peoples of Wisconsin were known to walk into a house, warm themselves by the fire, and then leave. Fires in homes were viewed as communal property, which any cold person could use on their way to where they were going. They would not insult the owner of a fire by thinking inhospitable thoughts about them. Traditions go back to the French and Indian fur trading alliance. Traditions die.
One of the things we do a lot in Wisconsin is go out drinking at night. That leads us to do other dumb things. Running from the cops, away from a late night drinking party, is a kind of underage right of passage. I'm not advocating it. But let's not call out the SWAT team snipers every time the 20 year old is having beer.
But to be 20 years of age, African American, wearing a hoodie, and too drunk to not know enough to open the wrong door, can get you killed in Wisconsin.
Click the link above if you have a strong stomach. There, it says:
SLINGER-The first test of Wisconsin's new "Castle Doctrine" has resulted in no criminal charges against the homeowner who shot a man dead on his porch.
The district attorney says the homeowner acted in self-defense when he shot 20 year old Bo Morrison (pictured above).
The victim's family demanded charges despite the homeowner's contention that he thought Morrison was breaking into his house.
Friends who were with Morrison that night say he was just hiding after police arrived at an underaged drinking party next door.
Also: get a load of the rascist comments:
That's right baby factories! Warn them chittlenz not to go where they don't belong!
I really believe there was a time we were better than this. That's probably just my delusion talking, there.
What really gets me is that with the new "Castle Doctrine," we have a new class of little blowhards who feel perfectly qualified to decree under what conditions they can go ahead and kill someone:
Break in, stumble in or sneak into my house and you will be shot. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. You don't break into a house in the middle of the night........or you just might die.
I don't see much introspection here. Maybe a little self doubt could go a long way. If you just stop and think for a second, you might not kill your drunk neighbor, drunk Uncle, or drunk offspring. This new breed of "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" laws, gifts of the NRA lobby, seem to be leading to a new kind of story, pushing the outer limits of tragedy and sadness.