Ron Hunter Case

Ron is an eighteen-year-old African-American male that comes from a disadvantaged neighborhood and a single-parent household. He has recently graduated from high-school and has never had any encounters with the law. One evening, he goes into a convenience store with a group of friends before going to a house party. One of Ron's friends convinces him to steal fruit punch for the mixer at the party. The store employee caught Ron stealing the juice before leaving the premises, called the police, and was charged with petty theft. Shortly after, his case is heard before a predominately Caucasian jury and was appointed a public defender. The defense argues to the jury that Ron is a first time offender and meant no harm stealing. Overall, he was simply

Hunter is an eighteen-year-old Caucasian male that comes from a neighbor that exercises community efficacy and a two-parent household. He was the star player at his private school, recently graduated with honors, and plans to attend an Ivy League school within the next four months. Hunter's parents are away for the weekend and decide to throw a party before going away to college. He goes to the convenient store to pick up some fruit punch to make a house drink for the party. While at the convenient store, he thought the cost of the juice was not worth spending his money. From there, he proceeded to walk out of the convenience store without paying. The store employee saw Hunter leave the premises, called the police, and was charged with petty theft. The month before leaving for school, his case is heard before a predominately Caucasian jury. His paid attorney advocates to the jury that he is a college-bound teenage still learning the difference between right and wrong. Ultimately, he was charged with petty theft and receives a $300 fine. Jury members were later interviewed and felt their verdict was appropriate. They came to a consensus that a harsher punishment such as incarceration would affect his potential college career. All in all, he made one bad mistake and should take this experience as a learning

Nonetheless, it becoming noticeable in the criminal justice system that race has and will always be one of the main components for jury verdicts. Comparatively, Ron and Hunter committed the same crime in regards to stealing but experienced different juridical outcomes. This situation is everyday cases that happen in our judicial system in regards to sentence disparities between minorities and Caucasians heard before juries. There was a case in June 2013 where a former Vanderbilt University football player Cory Batey was sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping a female. According to Shaun King, "Batey was a 19-year-old standout [African-American] football player at Vanderbilt who raped an unconscious woman." There was a substantial amount of evidence linking him to the crime including security cameras showing the unconscious woman being carried into a dorm room and cellphone photos. Ultimately, he was found guilty and must serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison. Likewise, there was a case of Brock Turner, who was a "19-year-old standout [Caucasian] swimmer at Stanford who raped an unconscious woman" (King). There was an eyewitness testimony of him sexually assaulting the unconscious woman and was found guilty. However, he was sentenced to six months in jail and could be released on good