Bryan Stevenson's Two-Tiered Justice System

In 2012, Bryan Stevenson stated that, “Our system isn’t just being shaped in these ways that seem to be distorting around race, they’re also distorted by poverty.” Stevenson is saying that the justice system is not fair. It favors and opposes specific types of people, judging them on their race and wealth. There have been many cases on how people were more likely to be declared guilty just because of their ethnic group or position. The system is biased towards a certain race and socioeconomic status, which creates a two-tiered justice system. Because there is a distortion by poverty, two types of justice systems are created. In an article a “two-tiered justice system that allows people convicted of serious crimes to buy their way into safer and more comfortable jail stays” (Santo) was said to have been created because of

In an article it states, “Serious criminal charges require a jury, and that jury must be unanimous in determining guilt ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’” (Beach). The jury is made up of peers which understand the person on trial’s circumstances better than an outsider. There are twelve people on the jury and the decision has to be unanimous. When the decision is unanimous, all the different people on the jury agree that the person is guilty as opposed to one person. However, according to To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus explains, “Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, ...[but] There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn’t be fair even if they tried” (Lee 220). Atticus is referring to the whites’ hatred toward the blacks. The hatred clouds the white people’s judgement. Even though a jury is made up of peers to make the system more fair, nothing can prevent the jury from being biased too. If the jury hates the man being convicted, that man will be guilty even if they are actually