by Primo Encarnación

Lost in a lot of the noise this month was the 20^th anniversary of the end of a criminal case which is one of the many cultural touchstones we collect through time: The OJ Verdict.  I was walking thru a JC Penney’s north of Chicago when buzz that the verdict was in ran thru the store, and we all crowded around the TV department to watch it.

Here are just some of the issues involved in that case: domestic abuse by a football player; racist cops; mishandling of key evidence; celebrity murder; cameras in courtrooms; tabloid cash hurting key testimony; Greta van Sustern; prosecutors overwhelmed by high-priced defense attorneys; Kardashians; planted evidence; Mark Furhman; minority justice vs white justice; rich justice vs poor justice; the Trial of the Century.

How far we’ve come, eh?