Examples Of Racial Bias And Prejudice In Just Mercy

Although civil rights acts had long been adopted by the United States, in 1986 several states still retained their cultural segregation and adaptation of social norms that continued to alienate African Americans – especially in the southern states. Bryan Stevenson depicts several examples of people being wrongly accused of crimes because of circumstantial evidence, biases and discretion by those who have power. In particular, Stevenson’s Just Mercy, focuses on Walter McMillian’s case, a man whose conviction was handed to him based on false allegations gathered by the police’s bargaining tactics, dehumanizing practices, and his race, with the case being ultimately decided in the flawed U.S. adversarial justice system. The county in which the case took place sought to find its own version of the truth to satisfy the majority’s ideals.

The theme of this paper is, the discrimination in courtrooms. The reason for this theme is because, once you listen to the 3rd stanza of this poem you can tell what it is and how the system is in operation to imprison African Americans, and it will never change. The paper will focus on these few topics, a corrupt law system, bias judges and perjury from peers. As a matter of fact, in the poem “Mystery of Iniquity” the writer Lauryn Hill examines discrimination in courtrooms to illustrate, a corrupt law system, bias judges, and perjury.

Throughout the book Just Mercy, there are several unjust circumstances, such as imprisonment due to lack or wealth or mental illnesses, which occur within the judicial system that Mr. Stevenson discusses with the reader. The author uses several devices to display the behaviors that occur within the novel, and these devices genuinely help the reader see through Mr. Stevenson's point of view. Bryan leads his audience through the several predicaments he encounters and displays the true faults of the judicial system itself. He walks us through the struggles of individuals such as Trina Garnett, Walter McMillian, and many more. Bryan Stevenson displays the injustices of the judicial system, such as racial bias and child imprisonment without parole,

The book, “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson pleas to fix the current unfair and fragmented system of criminal justice and juvenile justice. The book’s plot focuses majority on Stevenson’s work and his clients. The main narrative tackles the story of Walter McMillan, who was accused of killing a white woman, but despite hard evidence that would prove he’s innocent, is disregarded by the court due to his race. The main issue was not even the lack of care for racial equality in this case, but the fact that he was placed on death row before his case went to trial. This is one of many unjust cases that have happened in the past and that are currently happening in the system revolving around the death penalty. The remaining excerpts from the book

In modern-day America the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is controversial because there is substantial evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. While there is reason to believe that there are discriminatory elements at every step of the judicial process, this treatment will investigate and attempt to elucidate such elements in two of the most critical judicial junctures, criminal apprehension and prosecution.

Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, has many themes in his book. One of which is the importance of human life. He goes through many cases of which, in the end, he realizes that every human deserves empathy and mercy and a fair chance at living their lives. Throughout the novel there is one specific case that changes Stevenson’s perspective the most however. This case is the Walter McMillian case that demonstrates the unfairness that was tolerated for death row inmates. Stevenson expresses this theme throughout the book. Some examples are through the McMillian case, the mental patient case, the juvenile case, and his own experience.

Few in this country would argue with the fact that the United States criminal justice system possesses discrepancies which adversely affect Blacks in this country. Numerous studies and articles have been composed on the many facets in which discrimination, or at least disparity, is obvious. Even whites are forced to admit that statistics indicate that the Black community is disproportionately affected by the American legal system. Controversy arises when the issue of possible causes of, and also solutions to, these variations are discussed. It’s not just black versus white, it is white versus white, and white versus oriental, whatever the case may be, and it is not justice. If we see patterns then the judges should have the authority to say something. Jury nullifications cannot be overturned regardless of the cause. Exclusionary rule, according to CULS (2010) – Prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of U.S. Constitution; like unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment).

At the prosecution stage, African Americans are subject to racially biased charges and plea agreements (TLC, 2011). African Americans are less likely to have their charges dismissed or reduced or to receive any kind of alternate sentencing than their white counterparts (TLC, 2011). In the last stage, the finding of guilt and sentencing, the decisions of jurors may be affected by race (Toth et al, 2008) African Americans receive racially discriminatory sentences from judges (TLC, 2011). A New York study from 1990 to 1992 revealed one-third of minorities would have receive a lesser sentence if they were treated the same as white and there would have been a 5 percent decrease in African Americans sent to prison during that time period if they had received the same probation privileges (TLC, 2011). African Americans receive death sentences more than whites who have committed similar crimes (Toth et al, 2008). Because of the unfair treatment from the beginning to the end of the justice system there is an over represented amount of African Americans in prison (Toth et al, 2008). Some of the problems faced by African Americans in prison are gangs, racial preferences given to whites, and unfair treatment by prison guards (Toth et al, 2008).

In the book, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is a great book with many stories about cruel and unusual punishment, and injustice for an innocent African Americans . Stevenson speaks about the injustice of the criminal justice system, I would advise anyone who is interested in Criminal Justice system and injustice in the system to read this book.

Just Mercy is a powerful, eye-opening memoir about criminal justice, social justice, mercy, and race. Stevenson links all of these aspects together to create a narrative that exposes the corruption, prejudice, and abuse of power that runs rampant in our justice system. The criminal justice system today is prosecuting a disproportionately high rate of minorities, and they are shown less mercy than those who are white and privileged. This means that our criminal justice system is failing at promoting social justice, and we must fight for those who come from a different race or disadvantaged social background. Our justice system will not truly be just until we start promoting social justice by using mercy and leaving race out of the process.

From discrimination to prejudice, from explicit bias to implicit bias, from Jim Crow laws to the current American criminal justice system, there have been many changes, but the outcome has essentially remained the same: racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is treating someone differently only due to one’s race. Although it is said to be illegal in current times,it is still implemented through new techniques such as the modern criminal justice systems. Michelle Alexander discusses in her book, The New Jim Crow, how the current criminal justice system and mass incarceration are a viable analogy to “Jim Crow.” The analogy is apparent through the laws, historical examples, and current affairs as well.

My friend did not expect the police to handcuff him outside of his house in front of his neighbors. He did nothing wrong--an hour earlier he had called 911 to report that someone had broken into his shed and stolen a lawn mower. Yet when the police finally showed up to investigate, they immediately suspected the perpetrator was him. This grievous act was made very obviously due to the fact that my friend is an African American male. The scene of people of color being subjected to bias from law enforcement is unfortunately very common. There are many books and movies that expose this prejudice, including the book Just Mercy. Brian Stevenson, the author, asserts in his book Just Mercy that the race of an individual has the most impact on how he/she is treated within the criminal justice system.

Racism has a huge impact on society to this day. The greatest wrong doing in the U.S criminal justice system is that it is a race based organization where African Americans are specifically focused on and rebuffed in a considerably more forceful route than white individuals. Saying the Us criminal justice system is racist might be politically disputable in different ways. In any case, the actualities are debatable. Underneath I explain many cases of these issues. Information on race is available for each step of the criminal justice system – from the use of drugs, police stops, arrests, getting off on bail, legal representation, jury selection, trial, sentencing, prison, parole, and freedom.

Almost every member of the black community in Maycomb County is admirable in their personalities and innocent in their nature, and this generalisation makes the crimes against the black community all the worse. Tom Robinson, a man discriminated and accused of a crime that he didn’t commit has come forth to the justice system. The color of his skin determines everything from his background too if he’s guilty or not. A black man’s life is unable to prove innocence because of his race. Poverty has affected many people back in the 1960’s but, if a black man or women were to experience this they would be put on the white

The author of this article is Cornelia Grumman won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 and found the organization the First Five Years Fund where she advocated for stronger federal policies. The audience she could be targeting would be the government to create stricter guidelines when imposing capital punishment. The purpose of this article is to give awareness of how race can create bias factors in the justice system. It has been commonly seen