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Racism in the american justice system
Racist bias and the judicial system
Racism in the american justice system
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The law review article I chose was written by a Law Professor regarding police claims on self-defense. The author talks about Zimmerman’s murder trial and how the judge refused to allow prosecution to argue that the neighborhood watch volunteer racially profiled Martin. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for shooting a 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin. The state of Florida filed an affidavit of probable cause stating that Zimmerman profiled and confronted Martin and shot him to death when Martin didn’t commit any crimes. Zimmerman claims he shot Martin in self-defense.
“The Monsterization of Trayvon Martin,” by Patricia J. Williams, is an article written about the demonization of a young black man after his killer was put on trial and, ultimately, was acquitted of any charges against him. I would not say that the writer, Williams, is emotional. But their argument certainly focuses on pathos. She describes how the young man was changed from an innocent boy to an “immense, drug-addled ‘thug’” in the eyes of the public in comparison to both the treatment that the accused received, as well as compared to a similar yet racially reversed death that had occurred in 2007. Williams also uses ethos, while questioning whether the “stand your ground” law that was in question was ethically fair, pointing out that it’s
By Zimmerman receiving no punishment he and thousands of others were outraged by the results. Courts saying
Plessy vs Ferguson is a similar topic of the book To Kill A Mockingbird. In both cases there was a bunch of segregation. Both people were found guilty because everyone on the jury was racist. Plessy and Ferguson was involved in this case. Plessy sat in the all white railroad cars instead of the all black railroad cars.
And because it’s so impassioned, it’s typically disproportionate to the original injury—meaning that it usually can’t be viewed as just. The punishment may fit the crime, but it’s often an exaggerated response to another’s perceived offense. (And I use the qualifier “perceived” purposely here. For take the Florida case of George Zimmerman’s fatal 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin. Not only does such an instance exemplify the wrongheadedness sometimes linked to vigilante justice but, as many (if not most) people would agree, Zimmerman’s ultimate acquittal represented a serious miscarriage of justice—especially in light of the gunman’s anti-social conduct and legal infractions subsequent to the case.)
Both the cases of Tom Robinson from the book to kill a mockingbird, and Emmett Till were judged in front of an all white all male jury and they both lost. There were a lot of similarities in the cases the white people got away with what they did. Emmett Till was murdered after he was dared to talk to a white woman and her husband, Roy Bryant ,and his half brother, J.W. Milam kidnaped and beat Till and finally killed him. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white girl.
On February 26, 2012, a 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a man named George Zimmerman. George was found not guilty in July of 2013. President Obama spoke upon the ruling of this case. “It could have been me 35 years ago” stated Obama. Most African Americans went through being followed in the stores, hearing the doors on the car lock as they passed by, or had a woman move her purse closer to her as they walked in the elevator.
Trayvon Benjamin Martin was an African American boy born on February 5, 1995 in Miami, Florida. Serving a ten-day high school suspension, with his father, Trayvon Martin had gone to visit his father's fiancée’s townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida. On the evening of February 26, 2012, Martin walked to a convenience store to purchase an Arizona Tea and a bag of Skittles. The neighborhood in which Martin was walking through had been the victim of multiple robberies times that year. As Martin returned from the store, George Zimmerman, who was the neighborhood watch captain at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, spotted Martin and decided to call the Sanford Police to report Martin for suspicious behavior.
In the south back in the 1930’s there were many Americans who did not know the meaning of equality for all. With this being the case, many black people faced discrimination daily and it followed through to the legal systems especially in the south where both being compared took place. The evidence provided in both trials proved to be weak. Despite this, both defendants had determined lawyers who believed in justice.
The unfortunate events leading up to Emmett Louis Till’s death and unfair trial were for one reason only- he was black. “The word is some nigra boy from Chicago made ugly remarks and then whistled to Miz Bryant.’ The deputy chuckled. ‘Fool boy forgot where he was, and it’s a fact somebody’s sure to give that boy a talking to.
Police brutality is at an all time high, with the expansion of social media it has made racism appear more prominent. Racism is something that’s existed for generations however social media has given people the ability to see racism first hand for themselves and has also given the public to respond openly to the issue at hand. The Trayvon Martin case was one of the biggest cases that sparked the racial profiling discussion, Trayvon Martin was a African American male walking home from a convenient store at night with a hoodie on when he was racial profiled by George Zimmerman, a Hispanic male who saw trayvon martin as a threat based solely on the color of his skin and the hoodie that he was wearing. Trayvon was unarmed and harmless but do to someone else pre conceived
Injustice The Scottsboro Case shed light on the racial practices expressed in law that made a great impact on the legal system today. The actual victims of the Case did not receive a fair trial due to the color of their skin. The ones who played the victims planned the crime, and their stories made no sense. But like many of the trials during the time it wasn’t based on the actual evidence that was found,or even the defendants ' stories.
The trial of the Scottsboro boys was a trial that was the cause of two white women accusing nine black men of raping them. Their appeals, retrials, and legal proceedings attracted the attention of the nation and produced to Supreme Court rulings in their favor. The Scottsboro boys trial demonstrates that nonconformity to unjust practices can lead to justice for all people because their trial triggered The Supreme Court ruling that had a major impact on the American system of laws for the right to adequate counsel, the ruling for the right to not be excluded from a jury based on race, and still has a continuing effect in our own time which affirms the principle of equal protection under the law. Their case not only saved them from the death sentence but also started up debate about equal protection under the law such as in the first Supreme Court ruling.
Nowadays society thinks that everyone is being equal by the way they treat each other. They think that racism is no longer around, and that people are getting better at it. Yes, Racism has improved, however, there are many different types of racism that are going on till this day. Also, there is a high amount of racism in the USA, that has been claimed to not exist anymore. There are many ways it is shown, however both ways are similar in each country.
Based on all the information provided at the trial of Tom Robinson the jury should have found him not guilty. But in the south, white people were racist towards people of color. As a result of this Tom Robinson was found guilty with no evidence to prove that he was. In this trial, the jury was racist and prejudice towards Tom Robinson and that lead to him being found guilty of a crime that had no medical evidence at
