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The death penalty and race
Racial discrimination in the justice system
Discrimination in the u.s justice system
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Stevenson’s principal focus as an attorney is death penalty cases. He aims to get falsely accused inmates off of death row. The case at hand is that of Walter McMillian, a male that was charged for the murder of a woman named Ronda Morrison. As the case unfolds, it is evident that the evidence presented did not help to validate Walter McMillian as guilty. Due to the local police being pressured to convict a murder for the victim, they were hasty in their investigation of the evidence and quickly pinned it on a practical target. There is also an underlying racial aspect of McMillian’s conviction since he is a black male and had been with interracial, adulterous relationship with a married white woman and that had made people suspicious of him. …show more content…
The police and the prosecution later manipulated the truth to imprison a man that hadn’t committed the crime. The same authorities are responsible for most, if not all, of the obscurity of evidence all so someone could pay for the horrific crime.
The sheriff paid off Bill Hooks, a key ‘witness’ to the murder, in order for the case to be solved. “[Ralph] told us about being pressured by the sheriff and the ABI and threatened with the death penalty if he didn’t testify against McMillian” (Stevenson, 136). The public had soon calmed down after the supposed killer was found. Sadly, the public didn’t question McMillian because of their trust in their justice system – which they are not at fault for – but also because McMillian looked the part. Had he been a middle-to-high class white male, he definitely wouldn’t have been put on death row, let alone convicted at all. The insinuation is not that McMillian’s peers were all racist but as a society, we tend to criminalize darker skin. “When the judge saw me sitting at the defense table, he said to me harshly, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t be here without counsel. Go back outside and wait in the hallway until your lawyer arrives’” (Stevenson, 300). The judge had assumed that Stevenson was the criminal because of the color of his skin. Because he had been with his white client, the judge had thought that the client had been the
lawyer. With biases like these still in place as well as our society’s ‘eye for an eye’ mantra in relation to our justice system, is it really surprising that no one stood up for the innocent McMillian?
Locallo describes the Bridgeport case as being a “heater case”, not only because of the social impact that it will create in the community, but also because of all the media attention it will receive which will influence his possible reelection once his term is over (Courtroom 302, 31). When Frank Caruso Jr. decided that he was going to beat Lenard Clark, an African American boy he created the spark that society needed to get back at the Caruso family for all of the crimes that they got away with in the past. During the past several decades, society has tried to make the Caruso family take responsibility for their crimes, but all those efforts just strengthened the family ties and political positions.
Regardless of a personal dislike of reading about history, the book was captivating enough to get through. Ann Field Alexander, author of “Race Man: The Rise and Fall of the ‘Fighting Editor,’ John Mitchell Jr”, explains the hardships of a black male activist in the same time period as Lebsock’s novel. The main character Mitchell was president of a bank and ran for a political office, but was tried with fraud. After Mitchell was sentenced as guilty, the case was found faulty and was dismissed. Mitchell was still bankrupt and full of shame when he died. On the same subject of Lucy Pollard’s death, “Murder on Trial: 1620-2002”, written by Robert Asher, included the Pollard murder in chapter three of the novel. The aspect that any well written historically based novel brings to its readers is the emotion of being involved in the development and unraveling of events. As was said before, one who enjoys a steady but often slow novel that sets out a timeline of events with more than enough information to be satisfactory, then “A Murder in Virginia” is a riveting
The purpose of this essay is to compare three very similar cases, the Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird; and to prove why the defendant of the third trial never had a chance. Each took place in the rural South in the 1920’s and 30’s and involved the unfair conviction of young black males by all-white juries pressured by the threat of mob violence. Each lacked the evidence sufficient for conviction, most especially for the death penalty. Last, heroes emerged from each trial and made small but solid steps towards equal justice for all.
The hypocrisy and double standard that allowed whites to bring harm to blacks without fear of any repercussions had existed for years before the murder Tyson wrote about occurred in May of 1970 (Tyson 2004, 1). Lynching of black men was common place in the south as Billie Holiday sang her song “Strange Fruit” and the eyes of justice looked the other way. On the other side of the coin, justice was brought swiftly to those blacks who stepped out of line and brought harm to the white race. Take for instance Nate Turner, the slave who led a rebellion against whites. Even the Teel’s brought their own form of justice to Henry Marrow because he “said something” to one of their white wives (1).
On May 7th 2000, fifteen year old Brenton Butler was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens, who had been fatally shot in the head while walking down a breezeway of a hotel with her husband. Two and a half hours later, Butler is seen walking a mile away from where the incident occurred, and is picked up by the police because he fit the description of the individual who shot Mary Ann Stephens. However, the only characteristic of the description that Butler featured was the color of his skin. Police then brought Butler to the scene of the crime in order for Mary Ann Stephens’s husband, James Stephens, to confirm whether or not Butler was the individual who had shot his wife. Almost immediately, Stephens identifies Butler as his wife’s killer.
To begin with, Sam Wood is one of the main characters and is racist towards a black man, named Virgil Tibbs. The first racial thought that was made towards Virgil, was “Sam saw that his face lacked the broad nose and thick heavy lips that characterized so many southern laborers” (Ball 15). This proves that Sam categorizes people by their physical features and thinks that all coloured people should have the same physical characteristics. Secondly, while they were exiting through the door of Bill Gillespie’s office, Virgil Tibbs did not take any time to wait for Sam to exit first, which left Sam quite surprised. “Ordinarily he would not have permitted a Negro to proced him through a doorway, but this Negro did not wait for him to go first” (22). This quote makes it clear that Sam believes white people are more superior to coloured people. Finally, Sam was evaluating the thought that it was clear Virgil would have a better chance than Bill Gillespie to solve the homicide because of his forensic scientist background and because Bill Gillespie had no crime scene investigator training. “He wanted the crime solved, but he w...
.guilty. . .guilty. . .guilty. . .” (211). By using only four guilty’s, Lee is able to demonstrate that the word of two white people has a greater effect than that of an African American even though the man who was put up for his life had not harmed, nor had he ever damaged anything he came into contact with.
By coming into the country, other races are denied of superiority and are exposed to an already “racialized society”. (pp.78) Oppression also comes into place with hierarchy, such as the “Bonds of Sisterhood” by Romero that portrays a difference between African American servants and housewives. It sets up an inequality between both women, showing inferiority over African American woman. One last reading that has emerged and captivated attention is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson expresses oppression in one of his own narratives when he was discriminated by two S.W.A.T officers. He describes his experience terrifying yet shocking since he had done nothing wrong. He was accused of a burglary based on the color of his skin because he lived in a white neighborhood. Not only that, but he was also investigated and searched which violated his rights. This unlawful act portrayed the ignorances for complex, multiple, and cross cutting relationships because Stevenson was an educated lawyer; yet, was seen different by the two officers in his own residence. Overall, Stevenson’s book has captured attention since it has given an experience of what he went
Juror #10, a garage owner, segregates and divides the world stereotypically into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ ‘Us’ being people living around the rich or middle-class areas, and ‘them’ being people of a different race, or possessing a contrasting skin color, born and raised in the slums (poorer parts of town). It is because of this that he has a bias against the young man on trial, for the young man was born in the slums and was victim to domestic violence since the age of 5. Also, the boy is of a Hispanic descent and is of a different race than this juror, making him fall under the juror’s discriminatory description of a criminal. This is proven on when juror #10 rants: “They don’t need any real big reason to kill someone, either. You know, they get drunk, and bang, someone’s lying in the gutter… most of them, it’s like they have no feelings (59).
To begin, parallel and conflicting characteristics can be realized by exploring the judges of the two cases. Judge Horton and Judge Taylor both presided over the cases. Judge Horton was the second of three judges in the Scottsboro cases, and Judge Taylor was the fictional judge in To Kill a Mockingbird. The two both exhibited undeniable sympathy to the defendants in the cases. Judge Horton sympathizes with the nine Scottsboro boys by declaring, “You are not trying whether or not the defendant is white or black … you are trying whether or not this defendant forcibly ravished a woman” (People and Events). It is obvious that Judge Horton was unprejudiced and believed the boys should be treated with equality. This attitude is akin to the one of Judge Taylor; Taylor assigned Atticus Finch, a notable lawyer, to the case of the fictional black character Tom Robinson. Maxwell Green, an inexperience rookie, should have been assigned the case; however due to Taylor’s empathy, Tom obtained a decent lawyer who would do h...
The Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place in and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of "All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers," was a major part of all of these trails. A white person's word was automatically the truth when it was held up to the credibility of someone whom was black. Both trials were perfect examples of how the people of Alabama were above the law and could do whatever they wanted to the black people and get away with it. In both trials lynch mobs were formed to threaten the black people who were accused. Judge Hornton tried many times to move the case to a different place so that a fair trial could take place and not be interrupted by the racist people. Finally was granted to move the case even though the lynch mobs threatened to kill everyone who was involved in the case if it were to be moved. In this essay the bias and racism in both trials are going to be clarified and compared to each other.
In Harper Lee’s fictional novel To Kill A Mockingbird, an African American field hand is falsely accused of raping a white women. Set in the 1930’s in the small town of Monroeville Alabama, Addicus Finch an even handed white attorney tries to shed a light on the injustice of this innocent black man’s conviction. Atticus feels that the justice system should be color blind, and he defends Tom as an innocent man, not a man of color.
Stevenson's narrative is centered around the case of Walter McMillan, a black man who was wrongly
Crimes in America can be vicious and brutal, often leading to long, draw out trials, but it is only fair if you charge the right man. The only way that it can be fair is if you go by the facts and not the appearance of the accused. Many trials in America have men of color pointed out to be criminals. Many crimes are committed for a reason but many people label it as unknown. People are racist especially against colored people, they believe that white men are innocent but that is not always true. They always turn against the colored people for many crimes that could have been committed by a white man. The novel,Monster and the documentary “Murder On A Sunday Morning” are the same because,both cases have similar charges,both crimes were taken in a public place,and the both consist of racism either by the jury or police.
In The Scholarship Jacket, it’s not too noticeable, but part of the reason that she is asked to pay for the jacket is due to the fact that she is Mexican. We overhear two teachers arguing over who rightfully deserves the jacket, and to quote the bits of speech we hear from the presumably racist person, “...Martha is Mexican...resign...won’t do it.” It is hard to hear someone’s ethnic background mentioned in a conversation over who gets an award, and say it wasn’t mentioned out of racial bias. As for Emmett Till, I’ve already mentioned the circumstances in which he was murdered by two white guys, but haven’t talked about how they weren’t convicted in detail. The case went to court, as expected, but in the end, it was the jurors who decided the verdict. Those killers had all white male jurors deciding their case, and I think it’s clear that if we’re going to have a jury decide a case, don’t choose only races that are the same as the accused, or the defendant. Since all whites were deciding the case, they were obviously sympathetic to the defenders, and gave an acquittal. These stories involve racism affecting good people’s lives for the worst when it