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Racial discrimination within the justice system
Racial discrimination in the us justice system
Is there racial bias in the Justice system
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On 2nd August 1994, 13 year old American boy Eric Smith was charged with the murder of a 4 year old boy called Derrick Robbie in Savona. Derrick Robbie was walking alone to a summer camp just down the road from where he lived, when Smith saw him and lured him off the path and into a small patch of woods on the way to the camp (Leung, 2004). It was there where Smith went on to strangle Derrick Robbie and unearthed some rocks nearby which he used to beat him to death. After this Smith sodomised the 4 year old with a stick he’d found and left him there to be found (Staas, 2014). A couple of days after the body was found by the police Smith went to the police station to see if he could help with the crime, Smith denied seeing Derrick Robbie at
On January 29, 1991, a vile crime occurred in the Heikkila home in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Twenty-year-old Matthew Heikkila, the adopted son of Richard and Dawn Heikkila loaded up a “sawed-off 20-gauge shotgun” (Sullivan). He labeled shotgun shells “Mom” and “Dad”, and shot his parents both in the head. Matthew plotted the murder to get the chance to steal his parent’s credit cards, and treat his girlfriend to a birthday dinner. Matthew then left his parent’s dead bodies on the floor of his home and he and his girlfriend enjoyed a night in NYC.
To summarize this article, Tawana Brawley was an innocent 15-year-old girl that viciously been gang raped by six man one described as a cop. Her fragile body was found smeared with manure. Tawana later became a symbol, representing the unequal Justice for African Americans. Her story received many attention and was given lifelong donations that would benefit her in the future, but justice was never fought for this blameless girl. Nevertheless, When Rev. Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox Jr., and C. Vernon Mason took on her case that would be the beginning of the end to finding justice for Tawana.
“Article Analysis” “Let’s Assume the Kids (and Ahmed) Are Alright, Not Criminals” by Terri Burkes, is about a 14 year old boy from Ivring, Texas named Ahmed Mohamed who got arrested for building a clock, which was assumed to be a bomb. Its explains how Ahmed was unfairly treated, being interrogated by five police officers, his belonging were being searched, and he was accused multiple times of wanting to build a bomb. He also asked if he could contact his parents but those rights were denied. Law enforcement just automatically placed the terrified Ahmed into a juvenile detention center and was also suspended from school.
Most of the teens in this documentary faced abuse such as mental, physical, and sexual abuse. Though what these teens did was horrific, it was understandable. Many of these kids were pushed past their breaking point, causing them to snap. This documentary shows that most of these teens did not kill out of cold blood, but out of fear. In fact, 59% of juveniles who receive life without parole the crime they committed was their first crime ever (Second Chance 4 Youth, 2016).
In the essay “The Power of Context” Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime”, Malcolm Gladwell introduces the crime that New York City had during 1980-1990s. In 1980s, the crime rate was really high since a lot of people commit to crime at that time; later
It happens in the city, and it also happens in white-collar neighborhoods. Flores’s story is imperative for Americans to understand that they must be aware of the dangers and must “sharpen your claws against wrong doing, against human suffering.” (Flores,
As we mentioned earlier, the freshman’s mother mentioned to coach McElroy the fact that the upperclassman was calling her son those insulting names. This incident could have been foreseeable by the coaches, and possibly the administration, if the coach reported anything to the principal and athletic director. The Mepham High School football season was eventually cancelled and the three upperclassman were charged with “involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,” “aggravated assault,” “kidnapping,” “unlawful restraint,” “false imprisonment,” “terroristic threats,” “criminal coercion,” “simple assault,” “reckless endangering of another person,” “ethnic intimidation,” and “criminal conspiracy.” Judge Robert J. Conway chose to try the accused as juveniles.
When the justice for Mr King was not given rightfully, the people from the streets who went through alike problems hear about it, they immediately want change. From gang members who initiated the truce that helped decrease street violence, to the average high school student being active in protest around the city, the riots were portrayed heavily by the people affected by the beating. At these times, around the clock news and live television coverage followed but also in Ice Cube’s “The Predator” and Rodney King 's speech to the city of Los Angeles. Rodney King, intoxicated, speeding down the interstate had ignored all police sirens and warnings. He led the California Highway Patrol on a eight mile chase down freeways and city streets.
Brent Staples wrote, “ I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once.” (189) When talking about his first victim at age twenty- two. I agree and understand how Staples feels even though I am only a nineteen-year-old average height and solid build boy. I have felt the same way when out in public and I encounter “ the ability to alter public space in ugly ways.”
The Central Park Five is a documentary film that was produced by Ken Burns in the year of 2012. This documentary tells the story of five black teenage boys whose lives were changed forever when they were falsely convicted and imprisoned for brutally beating and raping a woman jogging in Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. By creating this film, the filmmakers allowed the young men to share with the public their own accounts of that horrific night. The film exposed not only police intimidation, but the lack of evidence used to convict the five boys. Through blurbs of different newscast shown in the documentary, the viewer was also able to get a glimpse of how the crime brought about a cultural diversity causing extreme violence to erupt
Many people claim that racism no longer exists; however, the minorities’ struggle with injustice is ubiquitous. In the “Anything Can Happen With Police Around”: Urban Youth Evaluate Strategies of Surveillance in Public Places,” Michelle Fine and his comrades were inspired to conduct a survey over one of the major social issues - how authority figures use a person’s racial identity as a key factor in determining how to enforce laws and how the surveillance is problematic in public space. In the beginning of the article, she used the existed survey reports to support and justify their purpose to perform this survey. The survey analyzed urban youth interactions with authority figures, comprising police, educators, social workers and security guards.
The intent and effectiveness of any presidential administration’s policies are often highly scrutinized and disputed. President Ronald Reagan’s policies in regards to urban communities, and most specifically to the urban poor, are no exception to that rule. This paper analyzes both Reagan administrations’ (singular or plural? Is or one administration or 2?) urban policies and the consequences of those policies.
As I watched the documentary “Road Beyond Abuse,” I experienced a whirlwind of emotions. From disgusted and disappointed to impressed and joyful, I felt it all. It truly disturbed me to hear about the experiences both Michael McCain and Johnnetta McSwain endured. I was disgusted that no one protected these innocent children from being verbally abused, beaten, raped, and left to fend for themselves. It was shocking to hear that these children withstood this amount of abuse from their family members until they were teenagers.
19 years ago today in a Hispanic house hold two parents three siblings and the world to conquer. Screaming, laughing, learning and growing molded this one young lady to overcome all statics .Factors such as birthplace, extracurricular activities and the simple thing she couldn’t control, her origin were deciding factors for where she is present day. New York, the city that never sleeps, a city diverse in all aspects of life, the city where it all started. 18 years growing up in Harlem wasn’t all it was cracked up to be especially for a young Hispanic female. Being surrounded with drugs, violence and public disobedience were some of the easiest of distractions that I encountered every day.
