Sanford, Fl: The Jackie Robinson Story & The Trayvon Martin Story

[Diane Friday]

[3/31/2012 3:37:50 PM] John Cashin: Jackie Robinson in 1946

On October 23, 1945, the Brooklyn Dodgers announced that they had signed Jackie Robinson assigning him to their International League team, the Montreal Royals.

Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager believing he "knew" Florida, thought his team could train there ruffling as few feathers as possible. Robinson and his wife were instructed by Rickey not to try to stay at any Sanford hotels. He and his wife didn’t eat out at any restaurants not deemed “Negro restaurants." He didn't even dress in the same locker room as his teammates.

As soon as the citizenry became aware of Robinson's presence, the mayor of Sanford was confronted by a "large group of white residents" who "demanded that Robinson...be run out of town."

On March 5th, 1946, the Royals were informed that they would not be permitted to take the field as an integrated group. Rickey was concerned for Robinson’s life and sent him to stay in Daytona Beach. His daughter, Sharon Robinson, remembered being told, "The Robinsons were run out of Sanford, Florida, with threats of violence."

In his 1993 book, "A Hard Road to Glory: A History Of The African American Athlete: Baseball" tennis great Arthur Ashe wrote in response, Rickey "moved the entire Dodger pre-season camp from Sanford, Florida, to Daytona Beach due to the oppressive conditions of Sanford."

Oxycodone diversion

See also: Drug diversion Sanford has become a hub for opioid distribution and diversion in Florida, a problem that kills approximately 4,000 Floridians a year. According to the US Justice Department, last year pharmacies in Sanford, Florida ordered enough painkillers to supply a population eight times its size. Sanford has a population of 53,000 but the supply ordered would support 400,000. [5] According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, in 2010 a single CVS pharmacy in Sanford ordered 1.8 million Oxycodone pills, an average of 137,994 pills a month. Other pharmacy customers in Florida averaged 5,364 oxycodone pills a month. DEA investigators serving a warrant to a CVS pharmacy in Sanford on Oct. 18 2011 noted that "approximately every third car that came through the drive-thru lane had prescriptions for oxycodone or hydrocodone." According to the DEA, a pharmacist at that location stated to investigators that "her customers often requested certain brands of oxycodone using street slang," an indicator that the drugs were being diverted and not used for legitimate pain management. [6]

As it turns out Sanford is the county seat of Seminole County but the Sheriff only has jurisdiction in the un-incorporated areas of the county!

Therefore, unconstitutionally the Sanford City Police Chief has exclusive jurisdiction over the Sanford City limits where Trayvon Martin was killed!

The County Sheriff is the highest "elected" law enforcement officer in the Nation but the Seminole County Sheriff's hands are tied down away from the Trayvon Martin murder investigation at the moment.

Hopefully the Seminole County Grand Jury will do its job correctly for a good start on this tragic Homicide case on the Trayvon Martin "Death" case!

We are hearing now just today the a criminal prosecutor is considering charges. The 57-year-old Angela Corey has handled hundreds of homicide cases involving the justifiable use of deadly force — experience that could prove invaluable. Corey, who also could call a grand jury to decide whether to file charges against Zimmerman, is known in legal circles as being passionate about victim’s rights and having clubby ties to law enforcement. She won the State Attorney’s Office seat after being fired from her job at the office a few years ago, beating the handpicked successor of the state attorney who fired her.

Corey was appointed the special prosecutor in the case by Gov. Rick Scott after State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, whose district covers Sanford, recused himself.

Since she took on the case a dozen days ago, Corey and her team of two prosecutors and an investigator have interviewed witnesses in Sanford and visited the scene of the shooting. She also has instituted a media blackout, refusing to comment on any aspect of the case as of this week. Corey refused to take any questions about the Trayvon Martin case during a telephone interview on Friday.