Clinton, Illinois has been feeding at the trough of anger and vengeance. Everyone impacted by the case of Amanda Hamm and Maurice Lagrone, Jr. seems to be doing just that... including me. I think that I've put on weight.
I've tried for three years now to imagine what the families might be feeling, but of course I can't, nobody can. What I do know is that with any loss of this magnitude comes unimaginable anger, regardless of the circumstances. In this situation, where the loss is that of the lives of small children, coupled with difficult family relationships and the perception that Maurice was a "bad guy" to begin with... it is all the more challenging. People are angry. And they have a right to be angry.
But who are we all so angry with?
From what I can tell, the initial reaction of the town was mixed immediately following the deaths of the children. I heard from many that Amanda was such a good mother, she loved her children so much… this was a terrible accident. But it didn’t take long for the anger to come… and the bias. The sheriff gave interviews to the press, proclaiming, "We don’t know if this is a Susan Smith-style case or not."
There it was… the seed of doubt!. And he said it on national television…it must be true!
That doubt really started the night of the tragedy, at the Clinton hospital in the middle of the chaos and craziness. This is a small-town hospital with a single elevator that goes to floors 1 and 2R. There were the all-white fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends of three small children. Every emergency worker, police, detectives, sheriff’s department… most of the town… and the rumors started.
"They were dry." Well, they weren’t dry… never were. My friend Bob Walston took Maurice to get dry clothes.
"Maurice was holding Amanda back and kept her from saving the children." Well, yes… He held her once the paramedics arrived so that she wouldn’t get in their way.
"They didn’t try to save the children." This is the big one… for all of the "I would have died trying" people out there… it turns out (and was entered into evidence during the trial) that the owner’s manual for Amanda’s car states that when the car is in reverse, the doors automatically lock. That is what happened. The car was in reverse and the doors were locked. From what I understand, both Amanda and Maurice tried to get the doors open… but couldn’t. And, they did what any one of us SHOULD do… they called for help when they couldn’t do it themselves. But remember the car was in the water and the electric locking system unlocked itself… so there is the problem. The paramedics found the doors open. From what I understand, the locks continued opening and closing on their own… scaring the lone mechanic who worked on the car that night at the request of the sheriff.
And then there is that darned "race card," as so many posters on the Bloomington Pantagraph web comments page like to reference.
I know that from the day of this tragedy until the start of Maurice’s trial, there was not ONE African American involved anywhere. Not one African American at the hospital, at any of the pre-trial hearings, not on the prosecution, the defense, the media… not anywhere! Maurice has been alone in this. And the white sheriff sat in the jury box, right behind Maurice, at most of the Dewitt County pre-trial hearings. Clearly, this is the role he sees himself in. I don’t know nearly enough about racism in America… but I’m pretty sure that the "absence" of African Americans colored the outcome of Maurice’s verdict. How could it NOT? It is absolutely clear to me that the civil rights movement did not happen in towns like Clinton… there was nobody there to have a "movement" for. What I do know is the perception. If you ask around Clinton about nearby towns like Decatur (if you are a white person), you will be told that, "It’s dark over there in Decatur… if you know what I mean."
But I suppose you can see the ripples going out for a long time when you throw a rock into a small lake… like Clinton Lake. Throw a rock into Lake Michigan… you might not see even one ripple… it’s all lost… there is just too much water.
I’ve placed my anger squarely on the shoulders of a faulty judicial system supported by ignorance and arrogance. If only the sheriff, the special prosecutor (both politicians!) and state police had pursued an appropriate sentence right from the beginning. If they had charged Amanda and Maurice with child endangerment in December, 2003… the families and friends of those beautiful children might be moving on with their lives. They would have had the opportunity to mourn, to grieve, to experience the overwhelming sadness they all deserve to have… but without so much anger.
I suppose the real problem is that "accidents" aren’t news stories… they don’t SELL newspapers the way murders do. And "accidents" don’t make political careers. Early on someone said to me, "A situation like this comes around once in a politician’s lifetime." By the way, the sheriff was just re-elected.
I've tried for three years now to imagine what the families might be feeling, but of course I can't, nobody can. What I do know is that with any loss of this magnitude comes unimaginable anger, regardless of the circumstances. In this situation, where the loss is that of the lives of small children, coupled with difficult family relationships and the perception that Maurice was a "bad guy" to begin with... it is all the more challenging. People are angry. And they have a right to be angry.
But who are we all so angry with?
From what I can tell, the initial reaction of the town was mixed immediately following the deaths of the children. I heard from many that Amanda was such a good mother, she loved her children so much… this was a terrible accident. But it didn’t take long for the anger to come… and the bias. The sheriff gave interviews to the press, proclaiming, "We don’t know if this is a Susan Smith-style case or not."
There it was… the seed of doubt!. And he said it on national television…it must be true!
That doubt really started the night of the tragedy, at the Clinton hospital in the middle of the chaos and craziness. This is a small-town hospital with a single elevator that goes to floors 1 and 2R. There were the all-white fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends of three small children. Every emergency worker, police, detectives, sheriff’s department… most of the town… and the rumors started.
"They were dry." Well, they weren’t dry… never were. My friend Bob Walston took Maurice to get dry clothes.
"Maurice was holding Amanda back and kept her from saving the children." Well, yes… He held her once the paramedics arrived so that she wouldn’t get in their way.
"They didn’t try to save the children." This is the big one… for all of the "I would have died trying" people out there… it turns out (and was entered into evidence during the trial) that the owner’s manual for Amanda’s car states that when the car is in reverse, the doors automatically lock. That is what happened. The car was in reverse and the doors were locked. From what I understand, both Amanda and Maurice tried to get the doors open… but couldn’t. And, they did what any one of us SHOULD do… they called for help when they couldn’t do it themselves. But remember the car was in the water and the electric locking system unlocked itself… so there is the problem. The paramedics found the doors open. From what I understand, the locks continued opening and closing on their own… scaring the lone mechanic who worked on the car that night at the request of the sheriff.
And then there is that darned "race card," as so many posters on the Bloomington Pantagraph web comments page like to reference.
I know that from the day of this tragedy until the start of Maurice’s trial, there was not ONE African American involved anywhere. Not one African American at the hospital, at any of the pre-trial hearings, not on the prosecution, the defense, the media… not anywhere! Maurice has been alone in this. And the white sheriff sat in the jury box, right behind Maurice, at most of the Dewitt County pre-trial hearings. Clearly, this is the role he sees himself in. I don’t know nearly enough about racism in America… but I’m pretty sure that the "absence" of African Americans colored the outcome of Maurice’s verdict. How could it NOT? It is absolutely clear to me that the civil rights movement did not happen in towns like Clinton… there was nobody there to have a "movement" for. What I do know is the perception. If you ask around Clinton about nearby towns like Decatur (if you are a white person), you will be told that, "It’s dark over there in Decatur… if you know what I mean."
But I suppose you can see the ripples going out for a long time when you throw a rock into a small lake… like Clinton Lake. Throw a rock into Lake Michigan… you might not see even one ripple… it’s all lost… there is just too much water.
I’ve placed my anger squarely on the shoulders of a faulty judicial system supported by ignorance and arrogance. If only the sheriff, the special prosecutor (both politicians!) and state police had pursued an appropriate sentence right from the beginning. If they had charged Amanda and Maurice with child endangerment in December, 2003… the families and friends of those beautiful children might be moving on with their lives. They would have had the opportunity to mourn, to grieve, to experience the overwhelming sadness they all deserve to have… but without so much anger.
I suppose the real problem is that "accidents" aren’t news stories… they don’t SELL newspapers the way murders do. And "accidents" don’t make political careers. Early on someone said to me, "A situation like this comes around once in a politician’s lifetime." By the way, the sheriff was just re-elected.
