Different Day, Same Shit.

Last time on DDSS, yours truly brought you the case of 13-year-old Darius Simmons and his death at the hands of a certain John Henry Spooner. In a remarkable contrast to the Zimmerman trial, Spooner was actually found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, and it only took the jury two hours to decide.

Luckily for Simmons, his death at the hands of Spooner was recorded on surveillance video. It also helped that Spooner immediately owned up to shooting Simmons - "Yeah, I shot him." These and other elements made the case more clear-cut than the Zimmerman trial.

Also, it helps that this didn't happen in Florida. I have a feeling that Wisconsin isn't exactly as amenable to the attitudes and beliefs that made the Zimmerman verdict possible. Of course, someone's bound to interject that the Zimmerman trial possibly influenced this one.

This is what we've wanted. For people like Spooner to be called to account and face legal and civil consequences for their actions. The fact that people were shocked and surprised about the verdict says volumes.

As I've probably mentioned earlier on, I haven't kept a close eye on the Zimmerman trial, primarily for my sanity's sake. More to the point, I stayed away from the live feeds, the rapid-fire blog posts and the constant stories and opinion pieces that flood in hour after hour. I stayed away because the more I heard and saw what was going on, the more apparent the outcome's becoming. It's like seeing a train creep silently upon an unknowing and unwitting pedestrian - you know what's coming and there's nothing you can do or say to stop it, except hope and pray for a last-minute miracle.

Maybe I should have more faith, but having faith in a justice system largely geared towards systemic injustice is rather difficult. Using history as a guide, you can see the same thing play out over and over again with depressing regularity. The only difference is the audience. Whereas a local audience and a simple (and possibly biased) blurb in the local papers sufficed, there's now an entire nation and quite possibly a global audience watching, and for good reason.

The outcome of this case will reverberate throughout the entire nation. It'll prove whether there's actually some semblance of justice in this troubled land of ours or if the same old song will play once more. It'll show that a young man's life doesn't have to be forfeit just because someone deemed him a threat to be rid of. Or it'll confirm that someone's life is always subject to the whims of others based on their appearance or others' perceptions of them and others like them. It could prove to be either a chilling turning point in this nation's history or it could be a small glimmer of hope and some form of justice for a grieving mother and family.

A story like the one unfolding in Sanford, Florida is one that grates on the soul. It's a stress that only a person whose been in the victim's shoes can understand, in my humble opinion. To keep a laser-targeted focus on this story would be to expend all of my own mental and spiritual energies and then some. It would mean being thoroughly ensconced in an awe-inspiring envelope of anger and hatred that takes one's mind to some tremendously dangerous and downright evil places. It's a feeling that often finds its way out through a variety of destructive and counter-productive outlets.

It's a feeling that the likes of Sean Hannity are vaguely aware of. However, they hope to capitalize on those feelings and turn them into examples, indictments and warnings. Such things wouldn't exist if the capacity for justice wasn't limited by the malice and anger of those who'd rather see their fellow men and women burn in the flames of their own impotent anger just because. Just because their parents and society taught them to fear and loathe them. Just because they're a convenient scapegoat to blame when things get rough. Just because a certain segment of people would rather see them return to their original condition to enrich their own coffers.

Just because they're the "other." The assigned punching bags. The load. The people who are relied on for so much yet blamed for many ills.

There's a story playing out in a Sanford, Florida courtroom and it's a story we've seen and heard countless times. The only question is whether the ending will be the same or if six women will manage to deviate from the storyline and deliver a much different conclusion.

This has been a terribly corrosive process. George Zimmerman, in our opinion and from information made available to us, is not doing well emotionally and probably suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome. We understand from others that he may have lost a lot of weight. George can`t get in the car and drive down to the office center and go in and see a psychologist. George can`t go down to the 7-Eleven and buy a Diet Coke. There`s a bounty out on his head.

Hal Uhrig won't have to worry about George Zimmerman getting shot on a dark street with a bag of pretzels in one hand and a Diet Coke six-pack of Bud Light in the other. He's exactly where he needs to be.

That means the New Black Panthers can call off the bounty they never intended to act on or honor in the first place. And those neo-Nazis can pack up their guns and decamp back to their private compounds.

I expected Angela Corey to drop the ball and not charge Zimmerman at all. Hearing about the man being hit with a second-degree murder charge was a surprising shock, given how so many people in similar situations have managed to walk. It was even more surprising to see Zimmerman in custody. I thought that by now, he'd be turning ten shades of red on a Cancun beach, well away from any U.S. jurisdiction. Chances are Zimmerman will be able to plead down to manslaughter, giving him a lesser sentence than life imprisonment for second-degree murder.

Shame it took 45 days for this to all happen.

The whole concept of "stand your ground" in self-defense laws is in desperate need of reexamining. If you haven't heard about the case of Daniel Adkins, you will soon. But since this involved a black man shooting a Hispanic, rest assured that the decision to prosecute him will come within days, not the six weeks it took for authorities to find a nice pair of linked bracelets for George Zimmerman.

All people asked for was for this man to be held at account for his actions. When local law enforcement decided Trayvon Martin's life wasn't worth holding Zimmerman at account for, his parents, friends, local residents and others throughout the country called for justice. Most people thought we wouldn't be at this point. Now Zimmerman can be made to account for his actions, just as Daniel Adkins' shooter may be made to account for his.

Now if only we could do the same for so many others out there.