In their pursuit of vengeance for the death of Amadou Diallo, those seeking to imprison the four acquitted officers seem to have co-opted an unofficial motto: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

So-called community leaders like former New York Mayor David Dinkins and Rev. Al Sharpton have played racial politics to incite public fury at the verdict.  Now Congressman Charles Rangel and others are asking the Justice Department to press civil rights charges.

The Manhattan Institute's Tamar Jacoby responded to the anger of Sharpton and his cohorts in the New York Post.  It "was reckless in the extreme," he wrote, "and it will come back to haunt them - and haunt us all - as we try to move forward to bridge the gap between police and minority communities."

In fact, the jury that unanimously acquitted the four NYPD officers was racially diverse, with four blacks and eight whites.  Jury forewoman Arlene Taylor even told the Post the case "has nothing to do with race.''

The Constitution's Double Jeopardy Clause states that "nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb."  Pursuing charges of a different name for the same offense - simply because some disagreed with the results of the first trial - raises serious constitutional concerns.

The defense in the Diallo trial repeatedly said "it was a tragedy, not a crime," and the racially diverse jury agreed.  Perhaps the only consolation we can take from the case is that the tragedy wasn't made worse by wrongfully convicting four police officers, who only fired because they thought their lives were in danger.