Your Saturday Radical 1: "A 'perfect storm' of homophobia, racism and criminal justice."

HIV is back in the news locally, with a heroin epidemic few of us want to consider. Here is another angle.

The Reckless Prosecution of ‘Tiger Mandingo’, by Rod McCullom (The Nation)

It took just over two hours for a suburban St. Louis, Missouri, jury to recommend Michael L. Johnson serve more than 60 years in prison on May 15.* If Johnson serves that full time, it could become a life sentence for the 23-year-old former student and star wrestler at Lindenwood University in St. Charles. Johnson was convicted of “recklessly infecting” one male sexual partner with HIV and exposing four others to the virus.

Johnson has been HIV positive since at least early 2013 and possibly as early as 2011, according to documentation disclosed at the trial, and prosecutors say he did not reveal his serostatus to sexual partners. That meant Johnson was liable for prosecution under Missouri’s draconian HIV criminalization statute, which essentially categorizes each new infection in the state as attempted murder. “What we have here is a perfect storm of malice,” Assistant Prosecutor Phil Groenweghe told the jurors in closing arguments.

Not exactly. A more nuanced analysis of Johnson’s case reveals instead the “perfect storm” of homophobia, racism and criminal justice that shapes the health of so many black gay men.

One year later, Indiana 111 is no less dangerous than before.

Kevin Hammersmith was killed a year ago tomorrow, when his car was struck by a vehicle driven by Wesley S. Bradshaw.

While there’s always the chance, albeit slim, that our community might someday commence a substantive discussion of what might be done to alleviate the hazards on the stretch of rural highway (Indiana 111) connecting Horseshoe with its customer base, there isn’t much to say about this sad anniversary beyond asking a question that might have occurred to others who knew Kevin.

What’s the status of the legal case against Bradshaw?

Since the aftermath of the fatal accident, Bradshaw’s journey through the legal system has been mentioned on two occasions within the pages of the News and Tribune.

Toxicology results

Additional counts

The state of Indiana’s search engine can be used to see further details. Click on criminal cases, and enter Bradshaw’s name. Charges filed against him are enumerated, as well as the chronology of the case. My most recent search yielded this:

Jury Trial (9:00 AM) (Judicial Officer Orth, Susan L)
08/20/2012 Continued to 10/15/2012 - By Request - Bradshaw, Wesley S
10/15/2012 Continued to 02/25/2013 - By Request - Bradshaw, Wesley S

Yes, “justice” is a word loaded with trip wires. To the extent that the American legal system is capable of proffering justice, we’d all like to see “it” done in this case, and seemingly, the time may be drawing near.

Assuredly Kevin will not be forgotten, and since his untimely death, he has been remembered in numerous, meaningful ways, but wouldn’t the very best way to honor his memory be for us to come together to improve safety on that damned stretch of hazardous highway?