# President Will Not Be Involved in Decision to Prosecute Zimmerman: Why Not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 18, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858 "2013-07-18T16:04:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/1 "2013-07-18T16:04:28Z")
A lot of outlets are reporting this, e.g. [here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/obama-trayvon-martin_n_3603572.html) > [@](#): > > But the White House insisted Monday that the president would not personally be involved in the decision to levy charges, nor would he weigh in personally on whether he supported that step. > > “Cases are brought on the merits,” Carney said. “The president expects, as in every case, that the process will be handled in the way it should be, at the Department of Justice, and certainly not here.” Why is this done and why is it a “good thing”? President Obama is not just some political guy. He was elected president of this country. He is the boss of the Justice Department, which answers to him. Why should he not get to weigh in on a high profile decision, much like he might on any other high profile decision. President Obama is not any sort of military expert, but he made the ultimate call on whether to go after OBL. He is not an economic expert, but he ultimately makes the final call on economic policy. And the same for any number of other areas. Ironically, law is actually the one area he is probably most qualified for, so why should he absolutely not weigh in here? I could see this better if the target was some sort of political opponent of his, but that’s not the case here. [Only thing I can think of is that the president getting involved in decisions about prosecuting individuals is just not commonly done, and once it’s not commonly done, this itself would create the appearance of political motivations. But the same could probably be said of the Attorney General as well.] ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/2 "2013-07-18T16:10:55Z")
Sounds like he’s trying to do his real job. BTW: he’s the boss of the executive branch, not the judicial branch. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/3 "2013-07-18T16:15:19Z")
> [@Unpronounceable](#): > > BTW: he’s the boss of the executive branch, not the judicial branch. The Department of Justice, which would bring any charges on the basis of civil rights, is part of the Executive Branch. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/4 "2013-07-18T16:16:45Z")
The Justice Department is part of the executive branch, although people generally don’t want the president to tell the Justice Department who to prosecute because he isn’t a prosecutor and has other things to do. The whole point of having the department is that the president is delegating responsibility. But the important point here is that [whatever Obama does is wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696596). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/5 "2013-07-18T16:24:46Z")
Because Obama does not want to be associated with this kind of racially motivated revenge prosecution. There’s no chance that they will find anything they can use against Zimmerman, and Obama knows it. Besides, the only people who want to prosecute Zimmerman are the race pimps, and Obama already has their support. Also besides, HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE OBAMA! RACIST! RACIST! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/6 "2013-07-18T16:27:20Z")
I know he’s in charge of the prosecutors…I just read it the other way, I guess. I blame the birthers 😉 Anyhoo…do you really think it’s a great idea to have the president bull in on individual cases that are only newsworthy because of media hijinks? It was blatantly obvious that there wasn’t going to be enough evidence to convict him of murder…they _may_ have been able to sell manslaughter, but that wasn’t going to be good enough for the media circus, so they had to overreach. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/7 "2013-07-18T16:31:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > the only people who want to prosecute Zimmerman are the race pimps This is (still) so very edgy. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/8 "2013-07-18T16:38:24Z")
As a practical matter, Obama doesn’t want to be involved because it’s a lose-lose situation for him. If he says to prosecute, he shares in the ridicule that will come when the case is unsuccessful. If he says not to prosecute, he pisses off a significant portion of his political base. On the other hand, if he says to DoJ something like “Conduct a thorough investigation, and make an appropriate decision based on the facts, law, and applicable DOJ policy”, then he doesn’t get blamed either way. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/9 "2013-07-18T16:40:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The Justice Department is part of the executive branch, although people generally don’t want the president to tell the Justice Department who to prosecute because he isn’t a prosecutor and has other things to do. The whole point of having the department is that the president is delegating responsibility. The same would apply to any other department. But the president can get involved in big decisions at other departments, and certainly it’s not a point of emphasis when he decides to not get involved in a particular one. > [@](#): > > But the important point here is that [whatever Obama does is wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=696596). I wouldn’t normally respond to this type of silliness, but I do want to clarify that my OP was not intended as a criticism of Obama. ISTM that this is assumed to be a “good thing” and Obama was just going along with that general principle. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/10 "2013-07-18T16:42:44Z")
It’s probably not PC to say this, but I think part of what got Obama elected is he played down the whole 'black thing". In his first campaign, had he spoke too much to that fact, white voters would have gotten that Al Sharpton/ Jesse Jackson vibe and he would not have got elected. So with that in mind, I think Mr. Obama treads very cautiously when it comes to issues of race. Besides, we got a black AG, he’s got this. If there is a case to be had. Which I don’t think there is. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/11 "2013-07-18T16:48:00Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The same would apply to any other department. Yes, but only insofar as they exercise some sort of prosecutorial function, and hence prosecutorial discretion. It’s fine for the POTUS to tell the USCIS not to deport X category of unlawful immigrants (as he did.) It’s not good if he tells them not to deport a specific person. This is especially true since by and large the DOJ’s prosecutorial function is the only one involving criminal charges, rather than administrative sanctions. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/12 "2013-07-18T16:49:15Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The same would apply to any other department. But the president can get involved in big decisions at other departments, and certainly it’s not a point of emphasis when he decides to not get involved in a particular one. I would say that reflects the nature of what the Justice Department does. We’re uncomfortable with the idea of the president ordering the prosecution of an individual because that feels undemocratic or like an abuse of power. I think people would probably feel the same way if he gave similar instructions to other departments targeting individual citizens - if he ordered that Zimmerman be deemed ineligible for a health care exchange, say - but it’s a little harder to picture how that would look in practice. > [@](#): > > I do want to clarify that my OP was not intended as a criticism of Obama. ISTM that this is assumed to be a “good thing” and Obama was just going along with that general principle. Ok. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/13 "2013-07-18T16:58:39Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I wouldn’t normally respond to this type of silliness, but I do want to clarify that my OP was not intended as a criticism of Obama. ISTM that this is assumed to be a “good thing” and Obama was just going along with that general principle. Then why do you think it’s worth starting a thread over? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/14 "2013-07-18T17:00:22Z")
I don’t think we want our president to decide to charge or not to charge anyone. The Justice Department is supposed to be above politics and the Attorney General is the nation’s lawyer, not the president’s. I don’t recall any president directing Justice to bring charges against anyone. The only time I can recall a president commenting on a current case was Nixon saying that Manson was guilty, and that was a great controversy. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/15 "2013-07-18T17:01:34Z")
I think Presidents should stick to broad policies and such rather than getting mired in single cases like this. He’s already injected himself into this in the early days, and as said above, I think he doesn’t see any benefit to personally getting involved, whether the DoJ wins or loses. They win - it’s his Justice Department and AG. They lose - none of it sticks to him because of an ill-advised comment at this stage. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/16 "2013-07-18T17:02:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Then why do you think it’s worth starting a thread over? :dubious: Why not? It’s an interesting topic. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/17 "2013-07-18T17:18:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is (still) so very edgy. Hardly. Unless you think Spike Lee and Al Sharpton are edgy, and they’re not. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/18 "2013-07-18T17:20:27Z")
Obama should not be involved in this decision, because he made it personal, and made it about race. A hispanic President should not have gone on television and taken Zimmerman’s side with the comment that they could have been brothers, and Obama should not have gone on television and taken Martin’s side with the comment that if he had a son he’d look like him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/19 "2013-07-18T17:24:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Hardly. Unless you think Spike Lee and Al Sharpton are edgy, and they’re not. I don’t. Insisting on calling black guys pimps is hardcore, though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858/20 "2013-07-18T17:25:02Z")
He didn’t take Martin’s side. He was explaining that he empathised with the parents. [ > [@](#): > > “But, obviously, this is a tragedy,” he added, noting that we all have to “do some soul searching to find out why something like this happened.” > > “I think every parent in America,” he said, “should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative to investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together — federal, state, and local — to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.” He noted that he was glad that the Justice Department had stepped in to investigate the specifics of the case. > > “But my main message,” he added, “is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. And, you know, I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” ]([President Obama Comments On Trayvon Martin Case: ‘If I Had A Son, He’d Look Like Trayvon’](http://www.mediaite.com/tv/barack-obama-comments-on-trayvon-martin-case-if-i-had-a-son-hed-look-like-trayvon/)) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-will-not-be-involved-in-decision-to-prosecute-zimmerman-why-not/663858.md?page=2)