"Elementary, My Dear..."

Almost 18 years later, two white men, then teenagers, have been convicted of killing a black teenager in London, for no other reason than his color. Everything points to the fact that this was no ordinary difficult case that went unsolved for a long time, but one that was mishandled by the police for lack of interest because the victim was black. Although the police had sufficient potential evidence to identify the culprits, it didn't bother to go through with the proper forensic procedure to extract it and present it to prosecute them. Only the dogged determination of the victim's parents prevented this crime from going unpunished.

British police work and justice, much admired the world over, come out, in this case, with a black eye. One would hope that the outcome will serve as a lesson to the criminal justice system everywhere, to not let race be a consideration in its proceedings.