Amanda chuckled as Becky whispered, “Interesting case, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I guess, heartbreaking though, you know ... poor kid.”
Becky nodded her head as she flung yesterday’s Globe at Amanda that caught the corner of her left eye.
“Ow!” Amanda shrieked as Becky said, “Oh, my God; I’m sorry.”
After Amanda’s eye teared, smearing her mascara and blue eyeliner across her cheek, she held the lid down for several minutes; and as her focus adjusted, she stared at the bold headline: “Gay Bashing on Trial.”
She looked up momentarily at Becky as she read:
“Trials where the victim was gay have been in the news a lot lately. These trials raise a host of important sociological (e.g., why does bullying occur, and what can we do about it?), psychological (e.g., what are the mental health causes and consequences of bullying?), and legal questions (e.g., do sexual minorities deserve special legal protection)?
Anti-gay violence is, alas, nothing new; and perhaps no case pending is more compelling or illustrative of the issues at hand than U.S. vs. McLaughlin currently pending in Federal Court for the District of Massachusetts before Justice Charles P. Woodbury. The trial is slated to begin with jury empanelment Friday morning.
Matthew Thomas McLaughlin was a 19-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near his dorm on the night of October 6, 2010, and died six days later at Massachusetts General Hospital from severe head injuries as a rock was lodged three-quarters of an inch into the back of his head.”
Tears fell from Amanda’s eyes as she placed the Globe on the desk. “Sometimes I hate this job,” she said as Becky nodded.
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