But no matter -- because the real villains in the Kate Steinle story are the San Francisco politicians who made the rules that prevented ICE from removing the already five-time deported criminal Zarate from the country.
These SF pols already had Kate's murder forever on their consciences, what they have of them anyway. Now they will also have to deal with the growing disgust of the American public and an administration that loathes these politicians, backed up by a Supreme Court that will ultimately be on the side of that administration for most actions it might take.
So the appalling Steinle decision will have unintended consequences that I will now predict:
- Attorney General Sessions, with the firm backing of the president, will redouble his efforts to do away with sanctuary cities both financially and legally. It may take some time, but the days of these sanctuaries are over.
- ICE will be set free to do its work. (It already has been, but even more so now with fewer complaints.)
- The border wall will be built, at least a good part of it, and Trump will find it far easier to get his way with border security. The Dreamers will remain, but the public will back Trump on further security measures that will be enacted. Those measures will be stronger than hitherto predicted.
- Fewer people will "leave their hearts in San Francisco." Many Californians have already left the state, but some who have been on the fence about decamping will get off that fence and finally leave.
- Although I'm probably overly optimistic here, fewer people will use the noxious euphemism "undocumented immigrants." (Well, maybe a dozen or so. Or perhaps Zerate should have a document of his own that says "I'm a bloodthirsty killer. Set me free!")
A final area of interest is the jury system itself. Who were these people that made this decision? Supposedly, they came to the trial unbiased by (or ignorant of) the massive press coverage of this murder. Is that possible? Did they lie? Was this another case of jury nullification like the O.J. trial?
It will be interesting to see in the days to come.
Comment: The Steinle verdict is yet more evidence that Liberals have lost their collective minds, politicizing and acquitting on what should have been an open and shut case of murder perpetrated by a person who shouldn't have even been in the country. The above author's theorized consequences are actually a little light on direness - the profound result of the verdict is a further polarization of the American public which seems to be building to an inevitable future confrontation, if not several. This can't be good.
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