The first evident display of injustice in the case of Steven Avery and Brenden Dassey is the jury’s bias. In the early days of this case, media coverage and the infamous press conference given by Ken Kratz, which described Avery as an “evil
The author describes how people are easily condemned in our justice system and how we allow fear and anger to control our perceptions and actions towards others. Stevenson is an attorney who runs a project called “The Equal Justice Initiative”,
Usually, although not always, unfairly prejudicial evidence appeals to the jury's emotions rather than intellect.”
The book “Simple Justice” that was written by Richard Kluger is one of the examples of the successful use of narrative with the scholar style of writing that is telling readers the story behind Brown v. Board of Education. It is needed to state that the book was firstly published in 1976 and at that period it was one of the most precise and detailed descriptions of the decision-making process of the Supreme Court in Brown. That is why, the work of Richard Kluger is so unique, he was able to tell readers the detailed story of the court and that was helpful in the learning of the history as well as in the understanding of the justice system. It is needed to state the fact that in the book Richard Kluger is pointing out on the fact of schools desegregation. He critiques the politics of the government that allowed the school
On the 14th of October 2011, Mr Rayney had submitted an application for a trial which only involved a judge without a jury present. This was due Mr. Rayney assuming that a strong bias had been manifested pre-trial as a result of the subjective publicity revolving around the death of his wife, Corryn(The Conversation, 2012). Therefore, the jury and any member of the public would already have preconceived views in favour of Mr Rayney being guilty of murdering his wife. The trial was successful for Mr Rayney where he was acquitted of murdering his wife. Similarly, this issue is somewhat common as it had also occurred in the case Evans v The State of Western Australia [2011] WASCA 182, in which both appellants had made appeals after being convicted for murder.
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy exposes several ethical failures that permeate the criminal justice system, reflecting a profound disregard for human dignity and justice. Firstly, the book highlights the systemic racism that unjustly targets minorities (Stevenson, 2014). The disproportionate incarceration of African Americans, despite constituting a small percentage of the population, is a testament to the biased application of laws and policies. The pervasive racial profiling, leading to discriminatory arrests and excessive bail amounts, further perpetuates this injustice. Secondly, Stevenson highlights indigent defendants' lack of adequate legal representation (Stevenson, 2014).
Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority (385). Dr. King’s use of logic helps his readers to understand and feel the power from which Dr. King is speaking with.
In the history of the United States of America, there have been many situations in which a trial was unfair, both in the cases of state and federal indictments. However, none of these have measured up to the outrageous inequity and negligence by the Alabama legal system in 1930. This poses the question: to what extent did the Scottsboro Trial reveal the faults of the U.S. Judicial System? Going so far to tie back to the Constitution, the Scottsboro Trial violated many rights of these boys, regardless of race; even the judges and prosecution put the system to shame. Aside from years of trial, falsely incriminating evidence, and biased courts, the Scottsboro boys faced years of judges, prosecutors, and mobs trespassing on their basic human rights.
With the public’s bias, this court case was
Bryan Stevenson examines the central concept of systemic racism and injustice in the American justice system, particularly toward people of color, in his book Just Mercy. Stevenson shows how racial bias and discrimination have resulted in the wrongful imprisonment and death sentences of many African American men, as well as the disproportionate representation of black people in the criminal justice system, through his experiences as a lawyer. Stevenson explores a number of themes throughout the book, including the need for systemic change in the criminal justice system, the power of hope and perseverance, and the significance of empathy and compassion in the fight against injustice. Through compelling narratives and personal anecdotes, he delves
For example, an individual may connect to the person on trial by race, gender, ethnicity or commonality between the defendant and someone from their personal life. May also occur with events and situations being discussed on trial. Author Veronica Roth stated that “no matter how smart, people usually see what they 're already looking for, that 's all”, and this applies to the justice system in the sense that looking past the biases is and always will be difficult because one tends to ignore evidences because of overwhelming emotions from bias (Roth). It is ideal to have impartial jurors whom will seek to be fair and will endeavor to correct potential bias in the courtroom in themselves, but it is not logical.
Both “The Reader” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” contain societies that struggle to change their views. Does justice prevail in these texts? In both Schlink’s “The Reader” and Mulligan’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, justice only prevails to an extent when perspectives and views begin to change. When “baby steps” are taken by society, they begin to “understand” those they feel “responsible to enlighten and accuse” leaving justice to “the courts”.
Twelve Angry Men is in many ways a love letter to the American legal justice system. We find here eleven men, swayed to conclusions by prejudices, past experience, and short-sightedness, challenged by one man who holds himself and his peers to a higher standard of justice, demanding that this marginalized member of society be given his due process. We see the jurors struggle between the two, seemingly conflicting, purposes of a jury, to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. It proves, however, that the logic of the American trial-by-jury system does work.
Although some may think of justice as subjective, the only honorable verdict is one that is reached sans biases. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, justice fails to be served as a result of people’s strongly held beliefs. However, it is Atticus Finch that proves to be a beacon of light in a dark age for the mockingbirds, or innocents, of this classic novel. Atticus possesses the ability to perceive how things would look from other people’s point of view. He attempts to instill his views of justice onto the people of Maycomb, although it is an uphill battle against prejudiced, and not to mention, ignorant citizens.
Unfair Jury Trials in the United States Despite the current efforts for equality, racial discrimination can still be detected in almost every aspect of American life today: education, the workforce, and our Criminal Justice System. I’d like to highlight a major obstacle that we have been struggling to overcome since the early 1980’s. Often times jury selection unfairly excludes people of color. Timothy Foster, a black man who was sentenced to death by an all-white jury, recently got justice for his unfair trial, but many others haven’t been as lucky. The jury is crucial in court cases and we must work to improve this flawed system to prevent even more suffering for people of color.
