One of the issues involved in this case is the question of equal justice for all races in America. This is known to be a long-standing problem. The figures show that, on the whole, more minorities are convicted than white people. The two sides are that minorities commit more crimes and that the entire justice system from…
Race, an aspect of diversity led to the arrest and wrongful imprisonment of Ronald Cotton. When Cotton, went to the police station to clear his name, as he heard of the charges, the police had no further ado than to arrest and to charge him with sexual assault. The police charged him with breaking Jennifer’s premises and rape. In the context of this story, one would ask, do minority races have ample presentation in the judicial processes? Again, is the criminal justice system fair and equal to all individuals without regard to race? An impartial response to these questions would be no. Race alone and not substantial evidence led to the wrongful charging and imprisonment of Ronald Cotton. Thanks to the DNA test that the truth came to reveal last, although the suspect had to suffer for over ten years. Also, another woman raped the same night as Jennifer, accused Cotton of her…
July 24, 2013. (ONN) With the recent racial hype surrounding the not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin trial, white America seemed for the first time to speak up and say, leave me out of it. With a black victim, Hispanic killer and an all-female judge and jury, white men were still held up as the always-evil villain. And with the push-back came a slew of crime statistics by…
Harper Lee, the author of "To Kill a Mockingbird," left behind a massive legacy. Her book sold more than 40 million copies since it was published in 1960, and Americans rank it among the most influential books they've read. But after more than 50 years and millions of classrooms lessons, some of its central lessons still, at least at times, go unheard. the same racial prejudices that led to Robinson's conviction are thriving, if in more subtle ways, in courtrooms today. It is not unknown that black defendants are more likely to be convicted of crimes than white defendants, and that people found guilty of murdering white victims are significantly more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murder blacks. Defendants with more stereotypically…
Dr. Brown’s article “Requiem for Trayvon Martin: When Will America Stop Destroying the Lives of Black Boys” moved me as I was thoroughly reading it. I felt a sense of anger and disbelief running through my mind without realizing till I finished. The anger came from the verdict of Trayvon Martin’s case against George Zimmerman. And the disbelief came from the fact that white people tried to justify George Zimmerman’s actions by stating that historically black men are violent creatures so you can never be “too careful”. The main argument of the article is that blacks are arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced more harshly than whites, for similar criminal offenses. It still amazes me how the skin color you are born with can ultimately define your life, lifestyle, or whether you deserve to die or not.…
The article, No, Justice is not Colorblind, explains studies and statistics on how black individuals are treated biasedly and unfairly in today's justice system, citing specific studies that showcase the unproportionate amount of arrests and convictions on the same counts. Firstly, both authors agree that the system is set up unfairly and convicts black individuals far more often. This idea is seen similarly in the article in which a graph shows that while black people had nearly 5,000 stops by police officers, white people only had about 800. This is is explained in the book where it states that “The Supreme Court has indicated that in policing, race can be used as a factor in discretionary decision making”(Alexander, 130) specifically talking…
The article “Death Penalty” by Robert Kiener gives the public a summary of what the people think about the death penalty and why is should or should not be allowed. This article starts by saying how the Boston Marathon bomber started up the debate about the death penalty being or not being allowed again and how less of the people who used to support the death penalty now no longer support it any more. Then, Robert writes that Nebraska is thinking about stopping the death penalty and how it would be interesting to see the result this will have on the people. Afterword’s Robert talks about how much the death penalty cost and the money that could be saved if stopped, there is also the fact of innocent people being accused of crimes they have not commented in the past. Next, it states how death sentences have been going down anyways and put on hold because of…
In “Stand Your Ground Laws: Preliminary Report and Recommendations”, The National Task Force said that “racial disparities are likely to be found to justifiably exist in Stand Your Ground States. The rates in those states are significantly higher. A white shooter that kills a black person is three hundred fifty percent more likely to be found justified than a black shooter that killed a white person” (Common Dreams, 2014). The Tampa Bay Times investigation was used to show how race plays a major role in Stand Your Ground. The investigation teams analyzed two hundred Stand Your Ground Cases in Florida and found that “seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person were found not guilty and fifty-nine percent who killed a white person were found not guilty. It also states that the twenty-six percent of those who killed a black person were found guilty and forty-one percent who killed a white person were found guilty” (Hundley, 2012). The researcher does not say white perpetrator, black victim or black perpetrator; he just says, “white victim”. This shows how the criminal justice system is when it comes to race. The researcher also stated that Blacks are killed because people see them as a threat. This is racial profiling and it exists in laws and in people…
Throughout the years African Americans have struggled with obtaining justice and protecting their rights. However, the conflict seems to be even greater today. In the past decade multiple stories about the unjustified death of an African American has occurred. Police brutality is very popular amongst these cases. In each case the race card was also pulled, causing a lot of controversy between blacks and whites. Violent protests took place and resulted in chaos. Instead of solving the problem these acts created bigger ones.…
There are more and more cases of wrongfully convicted African Americans occurring nowadays. According to National Registry of Exonerations of the United States, 58 people were exonerated in 2015, more than two thirds were minorities, including half who were African Americans. 22 cases according to the same source are cases of false confessions. Moreover, this exoneration cases include false confessions under police oppression or African American wrongfully accused by white people. Racist-oriented criminal justice system and society, socioeconomic factors as high poverty percentage, disadvantaged neighborhood – all of these factors are playing crucial role in African Americans’ being put in prison more often today. Most of these factors are…
The judging of an individual’s character by their race did not become relevant because of the Rodney King beating, the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the illegal aliens crossing the Mexican border. Racial Discrimination has been a reoccurring issue for centuries. Throughout time, these judgments and discriminations have led to unwarranted searches, racial riots and unjust prosecutions. Racial Profiling not only adds to this overwhelming issue but is upheld by the U.S. government and prominent leaders. Racial profiling has caused divisions between black men and the police, negative effects on immigration and race relations, and false imprisonment, further proving that racial profiling is not defensible public policy.…
Emmett Till was a fourteen year old african american who was beaten to death for flirting with a white women. Milam and Bryant were accused of murdering him, but were found innocent. It was all white jury and during this time period if you were black and committed a crime of any sort you were at fault and it didn’t matter who you were up against. After Bryant was found innocent, he made a statement that admitted to killing Emmett. “It became clear that the injuries were too extensive for Till to survive, so they decided to put him in the Tallahatchie River.” This also proves how flawed our justice…
Nevertheless to stretch that the criminal justice system overall is corrupted with racial bias is a mis accusation for a bigger picture that most don’t see. When we commit a crime, we all are treated fairly and are judged on the crime and the situation itself. Every crime is different and we need to remember that before we jump to conclusions. We need to keep an open mind and know that like people no crime is the same and the system has different factors and people to judge an offender's…
Imagine being guilty without having done anything to deserve this title. This is a reality for many African Americans who face discrimination simply because of the color of their skin. In the article, “Hounding the Innocent,” Bob Herbert states, “Most Americans have no idea of the extent of the race-based profiling that is carried out by law-enforcement officials and the demoralizing effect it has on its victims.” Herbert is only half right. Most White Americans “have no idea,” about how much racial profiling is actually going on. Most non-White Americans are unaware of how often profiling happens. Racial profiling is a bigger problem than most of us realize because authority often abuses their power.…
More than 20 years ago, Troy Davis, an African-American man from Georgia, was convicted of shooting and killing a police officer and was sentenced to death. Several years later, seven out of nine eyewitnesses completely revoked their stories. There was a clear lack of evidence that had proven him of his innocence, and therefore he was linked to the crime out of pure assumption. His legal team argued that he was just in the “wrong place at the wrong time” but Davis was ultimately executed based on the original jury verdict. Troy Davis maintained his innocence until his death by lethal injection in 2011. His last words to the family of the murdered officer were, “All I can ask is that you look deep into this case so you can really find the truth”.…