So many people were pulling for David Ritcheson -- first for him to recover from the brutal attack which was perpetrated against him, then in his quest for justice. Sadly, the ghosts of the events that took place some in April of 2006 appear to have been too much for David to cope with.

A Spring teen who survived a brutal beating with a pipe last year apparently jumped to his death from a Cozumel-bound cruise ship on Sunday.

An 18-year-old was observed by "a bunch of people" jumping over the railing of the upper deck of Carnival Cruise Lines' Ecstasy around 7:35 a.m. Sunday, said Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers.

A written statement from the cruise line also said an 18-year-old appeared to jump from the ship.

Carnival Cruise Lines officials would not confirm his identity, but Rick Dovalina, head of LULAC in Houston, said Sunday night that he learned through the family's attorney, Carlos Leon, that 18-year-old David Ritcheson has died.

"Carlos said that the family confirmed it, that it was true," Dovalina said. "The family heard from the captain of the ship. He went overboard."

The ship's crew pulled the body from the water and he was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. The ship had departed Galveston on Saturday and was a "couple of hundred" miles out, Eggers said.

Ritcheson's death comes less than three months after he testified before Congress about how two teens nearly killed him on April 23, 2006 by repeatedly kicking a patio umbrella stand into his rectum while shouting "white power!"

I grieve with the Ritcheson family for their loss. I only wish that some further retribution could be taken against the scum who nearly killed him last year and whose actions make them morally, if not legally, responsible for David's death.

Predictably, Ritcheson's death is already being used to promote federal hate crimes legislation.

Jackson Lee said the tragedy of Ritcheson's death could draw attention to the need for the hate crimes bill, as well as one she drafted that focuses on educating teenagers involved in hate groups. She said she intends to amend her legislation, nicknamed "David's Bill," to include funding and counseling support for the victims of hate crimes.

"Now we have a greater reason to move this bill as fast as we can," she said of the main hate crimes bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. "We will have a full press forward to have the president change his mind. Maybe he will rethink his position."

I hope this attempt fails, for the reasons I cited in April of this year, when Ritcheson testified before Congress.

The problem with his position? The facts of his case show that a federal hate crime law is not necessary.

Tuck, 19, and Keith Turner, 18, both of Spring, eventually were convicted of aggravated sexual assault for attacking Ritcheson in the backyard. Tuck was given a life sentence, Turner 90 years.

Life in prison. Ninety years in prison. Excuse me, but it does not strike me that there is anything more that can be done, unless you simply want to take these two mutts out and put a bullet into the base of their skulls. It is rather like the call for a hate crime law here in Texas after the James Byrd dragging in Jasper -- where two of the three perps got the death penalty and the one who cooperated with authorities got life. How would you "enhance" those sentences?

Don't think perpetrators of hate crimes are getting punished sufficiently? Fine, I'll agree with you -- but the solution is not a hate crime law. The solution, instead, is to enhance the penalties for the underlying offenses, across the board, so that actions like theirs are punished harshly. Because after all, what is it we are out to punish -- the crime or the motive? The thoughts or the actions? I hope and pray that the answer is obvious.

At a time like this, there are many who want to make some good come out of the torment suffered by this young man. Unfortunately, the proposal in question is not the correct solution.

Posted by: Greg at 03:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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