Due to the inflamed passions and emotional intensity generated by the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case, TalkLeft has instituted additional commenting rules applicable to this case.

Please understand TalkLeft is not a neutral site While a lot of factual and legal research go into my posts, and I strive for accuracy (and will correct any inaccuracies) this is a criminal defense site. I view every case through the lens of the Constitution and from the perspective of the person accused or under investigation. My goal is always to protect the rights of those accused of crime.

I personally moderate comments on my posts about this case. Those that I think violate the rules will be deleted. Since I do have a day-job, and may not get around to moderating comments more than a few times a day, I highly recommend you save your comment on your own computer in case it gets deleted. I recognize that commenters with opposing views put a lot of thought and time into their comments on this case, and my intent in deleting a comment is not to deprive you of your hard work, but only to keep it from appearing on TalkLeft if it violates our rules and principles.

Commenters must follow our general commenting rules, but in particular, and in addition:

• URL's must be in html format because long ones skew the margins of the site and it can take hours to find the comment causing it. There is a link button at the top of the comment box you can use to highlight the words in your comment you want hyperlinked and then paste in the url. Please preview your comment before posting. I cannot edit comments here, only delete them.
• No use of profanity (you can use asterisks in place of one or more letters);
• No misstating the law, no misrepresenting disputed facts as undisputed truths;
• No character attacks on either Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman (which means no discussion of school suspensions or the contents of their Twitter, FB or My Space pages);
• No declarations Zimmerman is guilty. You may state your opinion, provided you state it as your opinion and not as fact.
• No personal insults or attacks on me, TalkLeft or anyone commenting here.
• No potentially libelous comments, including calling anyone a racist or a liar;
• Your comment must be on the specific topic of the post.
• While all points of view are allowed in moderation, please understand that if you repetitively express your belief George Zimmerman should be convicted, and mock or argue with almost every comment that doesn't agree, you are likely to be deemed a "chatterer" or a "blog-clogger" and limited to four comments per thread or four comments a day. I have no intention of allowing this site to be dominated by guilt-mongers.
• The site automatically closes comments when they reach 200. The "reply" button will be gone. Even though there will still be a space at the end of the thread to post a single comment, please wait for a new thread unless you have something really important and on point to say that can't wait.
• If you see a comment that should be deleted, or that you think is objectionable, because it misstates the facts or law, please reply to the commenter by name but do not reprint the objectionable part of the comment in your response. Otherwise, if I agree and delete the comment, I will also have to delete your reply to keep the inaccurate information from being associated with this site.
• The posts on this case are about the facts of the case, the investigation, the applicable law, the legal proceedings, and the media coverage (including bias and errors in reporting.) They are not about the broader subjects of race, gun laws and politics, and unless specifically referred to in the post, comments about those broader topics will generally be deemed off-topic and deleted.
• If you want to discuss a facet of the case I have not addressed, you can do so in an open thread. We have open threads almost every day.

I realize there are hundreds of sites on the internet discussing this case and TalkLeft's commenting rules are stricter than most, if not all of them. But TalkLeft is not the Government, it is a private site, and commenting here is not a right. My goal is to provide intelligent discourse, without unfair prejudice to the rights of the accused.

If you've read this far, and you still want to comment, thank you for your understanding and patience. If you don't, you are still welcome to browse, and I hope you find the end result to be a rational and informative discussion of the particular aspects of the case we have chosen to cover.

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