Examples Of A Fair Jury In To Kill A Mockingbird

Ever since the 1930s, racism has been seen in all aspects of society. Simple things such as bathrooms, buses, school, and even court systems were all racist for years. In modern times, buildings are no longer segregated and racism is not as obvious as it was earlier, but racism is still seen in the court system. Whenever the defendant is on trial, they have a jury of their peers to advocate and vote fairly for them. However, white people have a more fair jury than people of color do. An unfair jury is only one of the aspects of racism seen in the court system. Throughout the decades, racism has been seen in the court system in literature, cases in the 1930s and cases today. Racism in the court system is not only seen in real life, but also

One aspect of racism is present in the final decision of Tom Robinson’s court case. Tom was accused of raping a young girl named Mayella who has an abusive father named Bob Ewell. Despite the fact that the evidence proves Tom as innocent, it was decided that he was guilty because he is a person of color in court against a white family with an all white jury. While closing the case and trying to defend Tom, Atticus, Tom’s lawyer, states, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee 274). Atticus stating that all men are created equal shows that everyone in court should be treated the same, regardless of race, gender, social status, or anything that is irrelevant to the case. Nevertheless, racism is so prevalent in Maycomb that the jury sees Tom as inferior to them due the fact that he is a person of color. While Tom Robinson’s case is fictional, Harper Lee took inspiration for it from the Scottsboro Boys case, which was a real case that happened in the

All of their trails had an all white jury and the boys did not have adequate representation in any of their trials. “In the first set of trials in April 1931, an all-white, all-male jury quickly convicted the Scottsboro Boys and sentenced eight of them to death.” Part of the expectations for a court case is to have adequate representation in the jury for the defendant, meaning that if a person of color is on trial, then people of color should be included in the jury. However, due to the fact that white people viewed people of color as inferior to them, especially in the 1930s, the Scottsboro boys did not have adequate representation in their trials. This enabled the jury to declare unfair sentences on the boys based mainly upon their race. While racism in the court system was frequently seen throughout the 1930s, some aspects of racism still exist in today’s court