Juvenile Court

To those of us who grew up in Pennsylvania’s “coal region,” we came to know the Schuylkill County town of Shenandoah as being the town in which every block had one church and one bar—and no, this wasn’t an exaggeration.

When I was a kid, my father worked with a guy from Shenandoah whose name was Harry, but because his beard was as long as it was, I often found myself wondering if I was hearing the name incorrectly, with the chance that people were really calling him “Hairy.”

My father eventually changed jobs and I hadn’t heard much of Harry or Shenandoah, other than the times when I went to Canada with my family for annual fishing vacations. The only reason that his name even came up was because my dad would take my brother and I to a spot on the lake where Harry was said to have lost “The Big One”—an almost-mythical large-mouth bass that was said to be the size of a cat. The Big One, the story went, gave Harry a fight of epic proportions, and when it looked as if Harry was about to win the battle, the fish jumped out of the water, spit the lure out of his mouth, looked at Harry, and sent some kind of mental signal to Harry in which the fish let Harry know that he and all of his off-spring would eternally curse Harry and all of Harry’s off-spring.

Since my family had not been cursed, the theory went, we would be able to catch The Big One and successfully bring him to our skillet.

In the end, we never hooked The Big One; we lost track of Harry; I only thought about Shenandoah when I would occasionally see the town on a weather map.

••••

Fast-forward to several months ago and Shenandoah appeared in the news—on the front page of all the local newspapers. This time, however, it had nothing to do with fish, churches, bars, or the weather; it had to do with a killing.

But instead of being a clear-cut potential homicide case, it turned into a massive circus, complete with accusations of incompetence and racism. As if that were not enough, the victim in the case was an illegal immigrant. In essence, everything that could be wrong in the case, was wrong.

• the victim was an illegal immigrant from Mexico

• the defendants were white, popular football players from an historically white town where high school football is almost as popular as drinking and attending church

• the jury was all-white

• proponents of illegal immigration—not to be confused with legal immigration—turned out in droves to get their message to the masses that illegal immigration should be just as acceptable as legal immigration

• supporters of the defendants were interviewed on television news channels and instead of simply saying, “The kids didn’t do it,” the supporters said that the victim was here illegally and as such it wouldn’t have happened had he not been here (as if it somehow validates the killing)

• the victim was said to be the one who initiated the fight, willing to take on all comers

• the defendants were said to be drunk, racist punks who were looking to assault a non-Caucasion

• the Schuylkill County District Attorney said that there were “many problems with the evidence,” but wouldn’t elaborate

In the end, one person was dead and the teens who were charged with third-degree murder, aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation were acquitted of all serious charges, ultimately being found guilty of nothing more than simple assault and alcohol-related crimes.

Supporters of the defendants are calling the verdict “justice”; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund calls it “a complete outrage.” Residents of Shenandoah are fearing some kind of retribution.

••••

I wasn’t there that night when the victim, Luis Ramirez, was beaten to death. As such, I have no idea what happened. I wasn’t on the jury, so I have no idea what they saw, heard, or discussed.

What I do know are these two points: (1.) a person is dead and two different, extremist viewpoints have taken the forefront in a case that should have been otherwise routine; and (2.) eastern Pennsylvania—where we find both Shenandoah and Hazleton—might be the United States’ largest breeding ground for potential Ku Klux Klan members.

References

Moser, John J. “Hispanic Group: Verdict is ‘Outrage.’” The Morning Call. 3 May 2009. <screenshot>

Rubinkam, Michael. “Pa. Teens Cleared of Serious Charges in Beating.” Google News / Associated Press. 2 May 2009. <screenshot>

“Teens Cleared of Serious Charges in Beating Death.” WFMZ. 1 May 2009. <screenshot>

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