Oscar Grant was murdered on a BART train in the Bay Area by a cop in 2009. The videos taken at the time show this clearly. Now his killer has been found guilty of a much less serious crime than murder - involuntary manslaughter. Understandably, people, especially black people, have taken to the streets to express their unease at the verdict: www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/08/18653052.php

California has had a series of riots about unjust verdicts. There was the riot following a SF court's leniency to the man who murdered America's first gay mayor, Harvey Milk. And of course, the Rodney King riots of 1992 when several LA cops were found completely inculpable despite clear evidence that they beat a defenseless man half to death. These riots raise issues. The basic demands of all these riots is 'justice' - the idea that all who commit a particular crime should get the same punishment, which should fit the crime. They are riots for more draconian punishments, not just for murdering pig bastards, but for other bad people as well.

Whether this kind of demand is positive is questionable.