Kayla Shea Miss Townsend AP English Language and Composition (7) 14 April 2024 Personal Discovery on the Road To Justice Throughout history, people have spent their lives fighting America’s justice system. This struggle for freedom has allowed thousands of people to discover their true purpose and establish a full sense of identity. Within the memoir, The Sun Does Shine, author Anthony Ray Hinton shares his experience with fighting for America’s justice system. The story follows the life of Hinton, as he becomes falsely accused of murder, and put on death row. Hinton not only shares his struggles while in jail, but also shares the despairing stories of his cellmates and their experiences with the system. Many other sources also provide evidence …show more content…
Sumerlin, in which researchers from New York present information about the importance of hope in self-actualization. In addition, an article written by Bryan Stevenston shares ideas about his experiences with the justice system and how he has grown from them. Finally, the TIME Magazine cover image of March 2020 illustrates an image of a young black girl, which gives a message about the injustices within America and the importance of equality. Ultimately, through fighting for freedom and overcoming prejudice, individuals can recognize their full potential and achieve self-actualization. The ability to acquire a true understanding of self-identity requires individuals to establish hope within themselves. This idea is shown within the memoir, The Sun Does Shine, where author Anthony Ray Hinton begins his journey into his newfound life of freedom by telling his inmates that "if [they] have hope, [they] have everything" (Hinton 229). Hinton gives his final message to the inmates, professing that hope is the ultimate driving force in overcoming any burdens that the justice system bestows upon them. Ultimately, Hinton’s journey to freedom is driven by his strong hope, allowing him to recognize his utmost physical and mental
Erin George’s A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women sheds light on her life at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW) where she was sentenced for the rest of her life for first-degree murder. It is one of the few books that take the reader on a journey of a lifer, from the day of sentencing to the day of hoping to being bunked adjacent to her best friend in the geriatric ward.
Prison Writings, by Leonard Peltier, provides us with a heart-throbbing story of a martyr fighting for the right of his fellow Native Americans. In this book, Peltier explains the events that led to his arrest, and his experience being imprisoned for a crime that he didn’t commit. He starts off with a chilling tale, reminiscing the horror of being imprisoned, and recalling the paranoia of having to always be “on the edge” and of “never [letting] your guard down.” (Peltier, 3) He then tells us, in his point of view, the circumstances that led up to his arrest, revealing his poor upbringing in the Dakotas, and his involvement with the AIM (American Indian Movement). As an American Indian leader, Peltier went to help and protect the people at the siege going on at Pine Ridge, where there has a gun battle and two agents were killed. After the siege, Peltier went to hide in Canada, where he was captured by the RMP. He was then
In this book published in 2011, Moore, the author clearly aims at the achievement of two main objectives. The first is to provide an account of his life and the other to show the similarities to that of the counterpart, the namesake. He also aims at helping the readers and the general public identify various issues that lead people to commit crimes in America and the community in general. He manages to simplify his message in a single quote by asserting that one the Moores was free and the other had come to learn that he experienced similar things that he only dreamt of that the other boy had gone through. The second Moore had been convicted to a life sentence, and would spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of a police officer during a robbe...
A stone of Hope by Jim St Germain is a memoir about the life of a young African-American immigrating to the United States and opting to the streets of Brooklyn Crown Heights. When my more expresses the poverty and troubles in the criminal justice system. As a young boy living in poverty and recently moving to America Jim used the streets as his Learning Center. The author and protagonist of the memoir, Jim, struggled in education system trying to learn a new language and adapting to his new surroundings. With the stigma of being an ESL student and the lack of support in school and at home Jim begin to invest more time into streets then into his education, he began stealing and dealing drugs and growing up increasingly violent. At the age of 15 Jim had been arrested more than a dozen times but instead of prison St Germain was placed in Boys Town. Boys Town being a rehabilitation center for troubled youth, to help change the lives of children who have severe Behavioral or mental health problems, academically and socially. Even from a young age in the Criminal Justice System St Germain knew that there was a problem lack of compassion and human capital.
The cover of Kevin Boyle’s, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age, features a worn black-and-white photograph of what looks like a packed courtroom, with four men in the foreground looking off to the right, as if awaiting a verdict. All of them, three white and one black, wearing suits, have their faces scrubbed out, as if someone had taken an eraser to them while the photograph was still wet. Similar to its cover, the 80-year-old Ossian Sweet case has nearly been wiped out of American history. The author, Kevin Boyle, is an associate professor of history and best known for his books on the labor movement. Boyle finishes reconstructing the Ossian Sweet case so we have a clear, precise snapshot of an incident
The future is a series of unexpected chapters in our lives packed with thrilling mysteries and remarkable miracles. Although the future may blossom with new, budding experiences, unforgettable tragedies and misfortunes can alter an individual's life. Refraining from grief takes plenty of courage and determination to overcome. As an individual with numerous experiences and involvements throughout my life, I strongly believe that our hopes and beliefs are exceptionally powerful. Throughout The Book Thief ,there are plenty of reasons to support the countless themes that are mentioned in this book. However, I was intrigued by the symbolization of hope, how it had affected the characters and their surroundings, as well as their belief in hope.
While buried, so deep beneath the cavity of adversity, finding hope is nearly impossible. But, it is the ability of decisions that aids as the last gleam of hope retrievable. After facing many struggles, it becomes almost involuntary for someone to put up a guard. With using that strategy, and the transgression of time without progress, there’s a certain ignition of comprehension. Change needs to occur, and a complete remedy of that
And though he experiences both sides of the paradox, it is ultimately the uplifting and inspiring effect of hope that pushes him to fight back against his oppression rather than continue to accept his enslavement. Grappling with hope and using it to move himself forward against overwhelming odds shows that even though it can be used to pacify people and keep them in their place, wishing for a rosy future that can never exist, it can also be the fire that motivates them to finally change their
Desmond Tutu shares, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite of all of the darkness.” Tutu is a South African social rights activist that has inspired people to oppose apartheid, the separation of blacks and whites in South Africa. Hope can be found in devastating situations. Edwidge Danticat, in Krik? Krak!, continues this idea. She illustrates the struggles of poverty and the oppressive government Haitians face. In eleven beautiful, painful short stories, she depicts the grind Haitians endure in their own country and in America. Through motifs of flight, Danticat conveys that hope amid tragedy motivates people discover freedom.
Race and the American Criminal Justice System: The O.J. Simpson Case Historically racism has pervaded the administration of justice in America and Canada. Racial biases against blacks are still apparent today through the many different arenas of the criminal justice system. Black Americans argue that they are treated unequally and more brutally than whites at all levels in the criminal justice system. As a result of this unequal treatment blacks are more likely to be arrested, charged, convicted and receive longer sentences then whites for the same crimes.
...hich is about 238,000 people a year. Of all of these cases, 60% are never reported. A shocking two-thirds of these accounts of rape were committed by someone the person knew. As well as abuse, child abuse is an issue of today. About 70% of these children are under four years old about many never receive the help they need. There is also a tie between physical, sexual and emotional abuse in families that have a lower income of less than $1,500 a year. Over the last few years, abuse and murder have started to decrease, but they are no where closer to ending. However, while Joyce Carol Oates wrote a majority of her books from the 60’s to the 2000s, murder and abuse were at their peak. In reading Oates’s novels from this time period, one can see the real tragedy of so many Americans have faces, many who were unable to find a voice to express what was happening to them.
The criminal justice system has been evolving since the first colonists came to America. At first, the colonists used a criminal justice system that mirrored those in England, France, and Holland. Slowly the French and Dutch influences faded away leaving what was considered the English common law system. The common law system was nothing more than a set of rules used to solve problems within the communities. This system was not based on laws or codes, but simply that of previous decisions handed down by judges. Although rudimentary, this common law system did make the distinction between misdemeanors and the more serious crimes known as felonies.
A crime being committed is the first event to initiate our criminal justice system. On June 12th 1994 a double murder was reported at the residence of Nicole Brown Simpson the ex-wife of the then beloved Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson. It was discovered that Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman had been brutally murdered and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began their investigation, this being the second step in our criminal justice system.
The American Court System is an important part of American history and one of the many assets that makes America stand out from other countries. It thrives for justice through its structured and organized court systems. The structures and organizations are widely influenced by both the State and U.S Constitution. The courts have important characters that used their knowledge and roles to aim for equality and justice. These court systems have been influenced since the beginning of the United State of America. Today, these systems and law continue to change and adapt in order to keep and protect the peoples’ rights.
The present system of justice in this country is too slow and far too lenient. Too often the punishment given to criminal offenders does not fit the crime committed. It is time to stop dragging out justice and sentencing and dragging our feet in dispensing quick and just due. All punishment should be administered in public. It is time to revert back to the "court square hanging" style of justice. This justice would lessen crime because it would prove to criminals that harsh justice would be administered.