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To Kill A Mockingbird Trial Analysis

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About 20,000 innocent people in the U.S. are in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, according to the Huffington Post. This fact is relates to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, where readers follow the main character, Scout, as she endeavors to understand her cryptic, Southern-Alabaman community. More specifically, the notorious trial of Tom Robinson, a local black man who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Although Judge Taylor specifically appointed Atticus to represent Tom, the trial was unfair because the jury ignored the concrete evidence presented by the defense.
The witnesses in the trial presented convoluted versions of what happened the night of November twenty-first, the night that Tom …show more content…

When Jem is with Miss Maudie one day, she asks him, “Did it ever occur to you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend [Tom]? That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him?” (Lee 219). Miss Maudie reminds Jem that Judge Taylor was trying to create the most-fair environment for Tom in court. This example is significant because it shows that Tom wasn’t alone in this fight against the Ewells. She reveals that there were other people who tried to help Tom, even though the outcome was unfavorable for them.
Even though this could’ve given Tom an advantage, there was no possible outcome that would’ve been in Tom’s favor. When Scout asks him why he already knows why Tom won’t win the trial, Atticus immediately says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started” (Lee 78). Atticus knew that even with all of the advantages Tom could receive, there would be no way to win the trial. Due to the other testimonies, along with Bob Ewell’s tough, cruel reputation, Tom was pre-destined to be declared guilty, never having a chance to present his testimony to an unbiased …show more content…

As stated previously, the trial of Tom Robinson was unfair because the testimonies of the witnesses conflicted with each other, and his Eighth Amendment rights were violated. It is clear that when Harper Lee was writing this story that she was trying to expose the ugliness of the race relations in the U.S. of the time. Noting that this story was published in the 1960’s, close to the height of the Civil Rights Movement, To Kill a Mockingbird was making another statement, but one not-so fictional. There was a bigger, more serious, problem with the race relations in the United States. From the point-of-view of an innocent child, this novel forced people to see the power of injustice towards minorities—both then and

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The jury came to the conclusion, with no evidence the offense happened, that Tom Robinson was guilty. Based on the grudges and resentments of those men, Tom Robinson was never going to receive a fair trial with the jury given. ANTICIPATE THE DEFENSE

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Have you ever wondered what a court room means to most people? Well, to most it’s an equalizer for any man or woman present, but there is a flaw to this system. This flaw is bias, the amount of evidence, and witnesses. Today we will talk of whether or not Tom Robinson had received a constitutional trial. If you don’t know “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee, is a telling of age story, about a girl nicknamed “Scout” growing up, while slowly unlocking the secrets of her home town and the secrets of life.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is famous for its controversy. In fact, it has been banned from being read at many schools for its use of racial, sexual, and political content, all of these aiding the book’s “big ideas”. To Kill a Mockingbird has many themes. For example, one is about racial injustice. You would think a jury would establish their final decision based upon the facts, but in this book, the jury had already made up its mind once it heard that the case was a white man versus a black man.

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In the jury during the case¨’Atticus was showing the jury that Tome had nothing to hide¨(Lee 225). This supports the claim because Atticus is truly fighting for Tom. He was doing everything possible to prove that Tom did nothing wrong. Throughout this paragraph Atticus proved to the people in the jury that he was not scared of what they though of him. Atticus is being courageous with being a stong and brave person to defend poor insist Tom

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After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.

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Judge Taylor pleads Tom guilty. “Judge Taylor was polling guilty,guilty,guilty (Lee 282).This shows how Tom was pleaded guilty. “Atticus says, “Link that boy might go to the chair,but he’s not going to the truths been told (Lee 195).” This shows how Atticus was being courageous saying how nothing 's gonna happen until someone tells the truth.

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When Mayella, and Bob Ewell, lie to the jury, they do it to make themselves look good. They went out of their way to make an official case about the scenario. Therefore it put Tom Robinson’s own life on trial for something he did not commit. Bob, got to do The only reason Mayella, and what they did, was because of the racial discrimination during that time. Everything that took place in the courtroom shows the loss of childhood innocence and extreme racial prejudice.

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Because the jury did not favor black men, Tom Robinson did not receive a fair trial, although Atticus made a great case. Segregation directly disobeys the fourteenth amendment, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Maycomb Alabama is where the story, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place. Tom Robinson’s trial out come was not based on factual evidence. Mayella was lying to the jury, while Tom was completely innocent.

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