Racism in the Criminal Justice System “The evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associate with minds of their caliber” (Lee 273). The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. Racism was a part of society in the south during the 1930’s. African Americans especially went through racism with the criminal justice system. The racial issue in the criminal justice system is still a problem that African Americans face today and has not gotten better. The racism has contributed to stereotypes, wrongful conviction, and wrongful death. African Americans tend to have preconceived …show more content…
One example of wrongful conviction in the novel is the trial. Tom Robinson is a black man that was accused of raping a white woman (Mayella Ewell). Robinson’s lawyer, Atticus Finch, debunked the evidence proved by Heck Tate, Mayella and Bob Ewells. “The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to the judge… I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty… guilty… guilty... “‘ (Lee, 282). Although it was proven that Tom Robinson couldn’t have done the crime, he was still found guilty. Tom Robinson was founded guilty mainly because he was a black man. Till this day hundreds of African American men, like Tom Robinson, have been convicted (and later exonerated) for crimes they did not commit. According to Samuel Gross, a law professor to the University of Michigan, “The bulk of the racial disparities in sexual assault convictions can be explained by white victims who mistakenly identify black assailants, said Gross, particularly when the victim is a white woman and the offender a black man” (Gross, 2017). African American can be seen to more likely to a crime, which leads to wrongful conviction. A wrongful conviction can also lead to wrongful