LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Response to Verdict in Jenny Jones Civil Suit |
Earlier this month, in a civil suit in Oakland County, Michigan, a jury ordered the producers of The Jenny Jones Show to pay $25 million in damages for the 1995 murder of Scott Amedure by Jonathan Schmitz. Amedure and Schmitz appeared on an episode of The Jenny Jones Show taped on March 6, 1995, at which time the 32-year-old Amedure revealed his "secret crush" on the then 24-year-old Schmitz. Three days later, Schmitz purchased a shotgun and bullets and killed Amedure at his home in Orion Township, Michigan.
In 1996, Schmitz was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25-50 years, but the verdict was overturned in September, 1998 on a technicality regarding jury selection. Throughout the criminal trial, Schmitzs defense centered around his public "humiliation" as his motive for the murder. Schmitz is scheduled to be re-tried in August of this year. In a statement following the ruling, Joan M. Garry, executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said, "This verdict has further-reaching implications than the effects of this one civil suit. At the heart of our culture is a media which can educate and inform, or it can damage and sensationalize. Its important that talk shows and other media be held accountable for their sensationalismin that sense, at least, this ruling is encouraging. But lets temper that with the knowledge that Scott Amedure lost his life at the hands of Jon Schmitz, not The Jenny Jones Show. The danger here is that this ruling will undermine the perception of Schmitzs culpability in Scott Amedures murder." "GLAAD hopes that the media, the criminal trial attorneys and audiences from all across the country will bear these points in mind as the upcoming criminal trial plays out. A ruling that denounces sensationalism and the conviction of a man who killed based on fear and prejudice are not mutually exclusive." The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 5, May 21, 1999 |