Nikki Haley, who’s running for president, announced on Fox News that New York’s governor should pardon the white man who choked a mentally-ill black subway rider to death (see story here).
The case is complicated, and certainly not as simple as its component of white-on-black violence would suggest at first glance.
The victim, Jordan Neely, 30, wasn’t a good guy by widely accepted societal norms. He’d been arrested 42 times, and while many of these were for minor infractions like subway fare evasion, trespassing, and alcohol open container, his rap sheet includes five assaults (see story here), which implies he was potentially dangerous. His family says he was mentally ill.
Neely’s behavior on the subway preceding his death was loud, disruptive, and could’ve been interpreted as threatening (depending on who was doing the interpreting), although he didn’t assault or threaten anyone. He shouted that he wanted to die.
Neely was tackled by Daniel Penny, 24, a Marine veteran, who restrained Neely with a chokehold. Two other men helped Penny hold down the struggling Neely, who went limp and ultimately died from asphyxiation. Penny may have continued choking him for several minutes after he ceased struggling.
The law of self-defense is straightforward: Taking a life is justified only if there’s an imminent threat of death or grave bodily harm to oneself or another. Whether a given case satisfies this test depends on the specific facts of the case.
Whether Penny acted in self-defense is for the legal system to decide. Every such death should prompt a fact-focused review. A preliminary assessment by the D.A.’s legal experts led to a decision to charge Penny with second-degree manslaughter. From there, it will be up to a jury to decide.
Haley, who’s not a lawyer, nor familiar with the facts of the case, has no business inserting herself into the case. She’s doing so, of course, to capitalize on the fact that rightwingers are embracing Penny as a hero. That’s problematical in itself, because this group tends to be pro-vigilante. They’ve contributed millions of dollars to his defense, so he will have the best defense money can buy; his defenders need have no worries on that score. Haley, for her part, is trying to ride his popularity within that group to her own personal political gain. That’s repellent.
Her posturing — and that’s what it is — won’t have any other effects. New York’s governor, a Democrat, is unlikely to pardon Penny, and certainly not before a trial. Pardons, when granted, normally come after a conviction (although they don’t have to).
What about Haley? Even though she has no chance of besting Trump or DeSantis for her party’s 2024 nomination, I post about her shenanigans because (1) she’s put herself out there as a candidate and (2) is wholly inadequate for the role. She keeps demonstrating that she lacks the thoughtfulness, good judgment, and seriousness that we should expect of any candidate for the White House.
Anytime someone politicizes the criminal justice system, that’s a huge red flag. Here are my other criticisms of what Haley is doing here:
- She claims to be pro-life, but supporting Penny isn’t pro-life;
- She’s potentially supporting vigilantism;
- She’s not a legal expert, doesn’t know the facts, and is in a poor position to judge whether Neely’s death was justified;
- She wants to bypass the legal system that should make that determination;
- She’s doing it for personal political gain.
I view her actions as a cynical and irresponsible attack on the criminal justice system. Let the D.A., judge, and jury do their job of determining Penny’s guilt or innocence by a proper process. There’s no place for politics in the process.
It also demonstrates, once again, that Haley is a lightweight who lacks the intellectual firepower to deal with the demands of America’s highest office. That’s a theme running through nearly everything I’ve posted about her. Not only is she unready for prime time, but when she keeps doing things like this, and this, and this, and this — I could go on, there’s more — it doesn’t look like she ever will be.