How to overcome racism if our own justice system is racial? We know that our nation has struggled a lot of unjust racial cases. For example, in the period of pre-civil war, the southern part of the United States was covered with slavery. The life of Black-African American groups was horrible as they were slaves and were treated as slaves also. They were a property that white people could buy and sell, had no rights, and were not protected by the legislature. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, and the modern days are known for the public fight with racism, but it seems that racial injustices still continue to take place in the United States. Guilty parties are intentionally cut off from the society, and casualties are accidentally sliced off from them through disregard, victimization by the framework, and unobtrusive messages of fault from group individuals. This paper proves the deterioration of the American justice system and highlights the necessity of its revision and exclusion of racial prejudices.
In the previous twenty to thirty years, the bearing of progress in the relationship between the group and the criminal equity framework has been toward less and less group association and more dependence upon the state, as spoke to by formal criminal equity forms - police, courts, remedies. Collett writes that there is a clear depiction of teenagers being sentenced to life imprisonment without a parole (Collett 189). For instance, one can consider the story of Trina Garret (Stevenson 148). Trina Garnett was a daughter of Black African American boxer who basically failed to create a good and successful career for himself and used to sexually abuse his wife by raping her or making her strip; the considered issue is a case of domestic violence and criminal offense. Being unable to endure such life, Trina left home. One day, she climbed up-to-the house as wanted to talk to two boys; however, the house was accidently put on fire as she lit up the matchstick to be able to see in the dark room and was inaccurate. The court sent Trina to prison for adult women, where she was raped by a police officer who then was fired from his job for committing this crime. However, how guilty was she, how fair was the court decision, and what was the real difference between crime and punishment for Trina and the police officer? Trina did nothing to receive such sentence, as her act was just an accident performed by inadvertence and without any wrong intentions, but she was African-American and experienced racial prejudices. At the same time, the white police officer did not get any punishment except being fired; it seems that his loss of job was made more to calm the public than to punish him really, and the mentioned case highlights the hypocrisy of the American justice system.
So, the question is: why did this happen to Trina? The answer is very simple: the court decision was significantly influenced by the racial identity of the participants. The case of Trina highlights the failures of the court and legislature and exemplifies the commitment to racial issues that have to be overcome. Such racial dependency demonstrates the elements of slavery that continue to exist in our society. This kind of relationship should be flipped around, and to change them, people must turn into the principal line of safeguard in keeping up group models of conduct, with the criminal equity framework utilized as a measure of first and final resort. At the moment, the criminal justice system enhances open security without the dynamic inclusion of society. However, people have instruments that the framework does not have, have assets that the framework does not have, and have the control that the framework also does not have. People have power that can change everything.
The story of Trina is not the only example of unfair court decisions. Stevenson continues to exemplify the issues of racial prejudices and writes about the story of Ian Manuel (Stevenson 153). In 1990, when Ian was thirteen years old, he tried to rob and then shot Debbie Baigre and substantially damaged her jaw: the bullet went through and shattered her teeth. When making a final decision, the judge considered not just the mentioned crime of Ian but also his previous arrests for minor crimes and shoplifting, the absence of parental control, and his living on the streets; as the result, the boy was sentenced to the lifetime imprisonment in one of the toughest American prisons: the Apalachee Correctional Institution. Moreover, as far as Ian was too young and the prison was known for sexual assaults, he was put in solitary confinement where spent about eighteen years. In 1992, during his imprisonment, Ian called Debbie and expressed his regret and remorse; soon, the conversations between them became regular, and Debbie tried to mitigate the punishment insisting on its extreme severity. Stevenson quotes her and writes, “No one knows more than I do how destructive and reckless Ian’s crime was. But what we’re currently doing to him is mean and irresponsible” (Stevenson 153). Unfortunately, the court did not agree; it ignored her requests every time they were made. Why did the court reject to answer the requests of the victim? The mentioned case reproduces one more example of the clear representation of injustice in justice. People practice moral expert in revealing the wrongdoing and choosing necessities of guilty parties to present appropriate reparations. The state practices legitimate specialist to formalize those prerequisites. The state likewise assumes a part of the oversight of the group procedure to guarantee decency in that procedure.
One more issue that one needs to mention refers to such failures of the criminal justice system as awful prisoning conditions and excessive caging, especially in the case of teenagers. Again, the main pattern here is racial identity; Gopnik highlights that the American criminal justice system innately makes the decision about the punishment of a criminal drawing on his or her race (Gopnik). Today, most people behind the bars are black; they are located in awful conditions, are often raped in the jail, and are treated as slaves. It shows the inhumane in disguise of a human being. In this, there is a clear indication that white supremacy will always exist in the criminal justice system. White supremacy has been demonstrating itself for many years, and it is still in power now. The criminal system continues to consider African-American teenagers through bias and impartiality, and its brutality makes prisoners suffer; for instance, sometimes, they receive just a small concrete block for sleeping or eating. There are many loopholes in the American government system, as the intensity of the crime is increasing. Specialists are hesitant to challenge the capable prison guards' union, and the disciplinary framework is so stacked in the union's support that a protection could be discovered liable of brutalizing a detainee and not letting him go. The prisoners do not have good living conditions; in some prisons, they are not allowed even to take a bath and do not have access to medications. This problem needs to be changed: the prisoners are human beings and should be treated as human beings and have a suitable room with a water-drinking facility and personal hygiene facility.
As Quigley states, “A radical approach to the US criminal justice system means we must go to the root of the problem” (Quigley). Our criminal justice system has patterns of injustice, and they need to be carefully revised with the participation of the whole nation. One of the primary concerns of change should refer to juveniles who are often unfairly sentenced to lifetime imprisonment and begin to suffer from mental traumas and depression, etc. Many officials have a notion that teenagers might be harmful to the society after being released; however, how appropriate is it for the American nation? The justice system should be incorporated with some mercy elements that could help our teenagers and protect them. Also, the justice system must find the new ways to incorporate the careful study of each case. There are numerous situations in which the victim is blamed and sentenced to the lifetime imprisonment almost for nothing; it should be changed, as the decision should always be fair.
Works Cited
Collett, Steve. "Book review: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.” Probation Journal, vol. 62, no. 2, 2015, pp. 189-91. Sagepub, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0264550515586145a.
Gopnik, Adam. “A critic at A Large: Caging of America.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 30 Jan 2012, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/30/the-caging-of-america.
Quigley, Bill. "Fourteen Examples of Systemic Racism in the US Criminal Justice System." Common Dreams, CommonDreams.org, 26 Jul 2010, http://www.commondreams.org/views/2010/07/26/fourteen-examples-systemic-racism-us-criminal-justice-system.
Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2014.
