The more I read of the tragic case of Raquel Nelson, the more outraged I am at the prosecutor who apparently filed charges only when a story on jaywalking mentioned her, the jury that convicted her, the unsympathetic public in Atlanta, and the city planners who did such a poor job of placing the bus stop. 

The jury that convicted her was a jury of white people who all had replied that they never took public transportation.  (Incidentally, this makes me question the defense attorney's expertise.)  The jury was unsympathetic to the fact that the bus stop was right across from her home, with the nearest cross-walk 3/10 of a mile away (keep in mind that's a walk both ways, so 6/10 of a mile lugging bags and young children).

Let me tell you right now; if you're going to tell me you've never jaywalked once in your life, I'm going to flat-out call you a liar.  But somehow, this woman ended up charged with-let's see, what was it?  "Reckless conduct, improperly crossing a roadway and second-degree homicide by vehicle."  Each is punishable by up to 12 months in prison.  In the meantime, the person who killed her son, who previously was convicted of two hit & runs, is already out of prison after serving six months of a five-year sentence.  As Radley Balko noted, she could serve three times more time in prison than her son's killer.

So we have an over-zealous prosecutor (I'm lookin' at ya, Barry Morgan, although Barry Moron would be more fitting), an unsympathetic jury who has never taken public transportation and does not understand the frustration of poorly placed bus stops, an indifferent public in Atlanta region, many that blamed her, and the planners who thought it'd be a good idea to place the bus stop in the middle of a block rather than at the intersection.

What's interesting to me, though, is this sentence, emphasis mine:  "She and the children crossed two lanes and waited with other passengers on the raised median for a break in traffic."  Were those other passengers charged with two of the three charges that Ms. Nelson was?  Surely they were listed as witnesses to the hit & run?  No?  Then that's a good indication of a grandstanding prosecutor.

There are many levels of good policies needed for a good community; we need good design (better bus stop placement), a justice system that is not abused by grandstanding prosecutors, and a public that actually cares.  For Rachel Nelson, society has failed her on so many levels.