Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said Monday in court that she didn’t know what Juneteenth was.
Scherer, who is presiding over Nikolas Cruz’s death penalty trial, said she “didn’t get the memo” on why the court will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022, the 187th Juneteenth.
“I don’t know if that’s like a new thing. The courthouse is closed ... Sorry, it’s something I should know, I guess,” Scherer said.
President Joe Biden recognized Juneteenth on June 17, 2021, as the United States’ second independence day and a federal holiday.
“On June 19th, 1865, a major general of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage,” Biden said during his speech.
Biden also said it was a day to “remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take” also known as “America’s original sin.”
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. When he was 19 years old, he confessed to using an AR-15 rifle during the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Jury selection continued on Monday. Scherer’s goal is to have 12 jurors and 6 to 8 alternate jurors ready to listen to testimony, so they can decide if Cruz should be executed for his crimes.
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Scherer, who is presiding over Nikolas Cruz’s death penalty trial, said she “didn’t get the memo” on why the court will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022, the 187th Juneteenth.
“I don’t know if that’s like a new thing. The courthouse is closed ... Sorry, it’s something I should know, I guess,” Scherer said.
President Joe Biden recognized Juneteenth on June 17, 2021, as the United States’ second independence day and a federal holiday.
“On June 19th, 1865, a major general of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Americans in Texas from bondage,” Biden said during his speech.
Biden also said it was a day to “remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take” also known as “America’s original sin.”
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. When he was 19 years old, he confessed to using an AR-15 rifle during the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Jury selection continued on Monday. Scherer’s goal is to have 12 jurors and 6 to 8 alternate jurors ready to listen to testimony, so they can decide if Cruz should be executed for his crimes.
Watch the raw video
Continue reading...