Today was the beginning of the federal hate crimes trial against the McMichaels and William Bryan, but — given that they’ve already been convicted of murder in Georgia state courts — what is the point, really? Just to find out that they used the N-word and other slurs in their conversations about Ahmad Auberry and other people of color?

Is that really the best use of our resources?

As it happens, both McMichaels and Bryan had already offered to plead guilty in exchange for them being able to spend their incarceration in a federal prison instead of a state prison. They thought they might be a little safer in a federal facility. The family objected to that deal and the judge ultimately rejected it.

Again, why?

These racist idiots are already going to spend the rest of their life in jail, as they should. They probably are more likely to be murdered in a state prison instead of a federal facility. But having them be murdered in prison isn’t really a part of the deal.

This seems to me like a good example of good intentions gone awry. It would have been a huge injustice if these three had been exonerated. But they weren’t. That ship has already sailed. Not it feels like this additional trial is just for show.