On May 16, 1843, one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri, set off for the Pacific Northwest, blazing what became known as the “Oregon Trail.”
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Oregon Trail
What happened on a New York City subway train on May 1 was a tragedy: Jordan Neely died.
Daniel Penny, 24 years old, a former Marine, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in Neely’s death, after prosecutors weighed the evidence following multiple protests.
Neely became unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
“Let’s not forget that there were three people restraining him, and it is vital that the two others are also held accountable for their actions,” argued Rev. Al Sharpton. “The justice system needs to send a clear, loud message that vigilantism has never been acceptable.”
But was this “vigilantism”?
“Penny claims he and others on the train felt threatened and did not intend to harm Neely,” reported Eyewitness News ABC7NY. Penny physically overpowered Neely “after witnesses said Neely was making threats and scaring passengers,” informed Good Morning America, “but that there was no indication that he was violent.”
Good night! Making threats is one of the foremost indicators of coming violence.
“Officials and friends say Neely struggled with homelessness and mental illness for years,” noted CBS Mornings, “and he worked as a Michael Jackson impersonator.”
Missing from the CBS coverage — and so many other stories — was the fact that, as CNN disclosed, “Neely had a lengthy arrest record . . . including 42 arrests . . . and three unprovoked assaults on women in the subway between 2019 and 2021.”
Three. Assaults on women. In the subway.
As one attorney put it, NYC prosecutor Alvin Bragg must now prove that Daniel Penny “recklessly caused the death of Jordan Neely.”
There is little doubt Penny caused the death but was his impulse “reckless” . . . or responsible?
Thank goodness for the right to trial by jury.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.
Publius Tacitus, Histories (100 A.D.), Book One.
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Virginia for Independence
On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention instructed its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States’ Declaration of Independence.
One reader’s and all the world’s problems: in one episode!
Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris.
It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.
Publius Tacitus, Agricola (98 A.D.), Chapter 42.
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Constitution, huzzah?
On May 14, 1787, delegates convened a Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to write a new Constitution for the United States. George Washington presided over the convention.
On the same day a century later, jurist and pamphleteer Lysander Spooner — author of several important treatises, including Trial by Jury, The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, and an infamous pamphlet entitled “No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority” — died.
Paul Jacob provides variations on a theme. The theme was whistled (in the dark?) several times earlier this week. But here it receives its fullest treatment:
Once again, Paul discusses reader mail, from this website. Well: one letter. Listen to see whose!
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“Poor Richard”
Force shites upon Reason’s Back.
Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1736).
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Brazilian slavery
On May 13, 1888, Brazil abolished slavery with the passage of the Lei Áurea (“Golden Law”).