The majority of people would never imagine they could be convicted of a crime which they did not commit, but all too often, this is the startling reality. Through the history of the United States and the world, excessively many decisions have been made rashly as a result of fear and bias. Two specific cases in the United States are those of the Red Scare and the West Memphis Three. While both situations did not lead to prosecution and conviction of individuals, both did involve harsh accusations which seemed reasonably based but may not have been. By comparing and contrasting these two events, one can see specific recurring patterns not only in the history of the United States, but in the history of the whole world; by seeing this, hopefully …show more content…
When the quiet Arkansas town was perturbed by the murder of three young boys, a scapegoat was necessary. The town had never had to deal with any terrible situation of such degree before. In order to ensure someone was punished for the murders, the prosecution pursued a group of three boys who “fit the part” so to speak. Simply because they were unintelligent or wore black, they were prosecuted and, perhaps, wrongfully convicted for twenty years. It is impossible to say whether the conviction of the boys was wrongful, and therein lies the problem. In order to be convicted of a crime in the United States, one must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In the case of the West Memphis Three, there was excessive doubt as to the guilt of the boys, but they were still incarcerated. This is another example in the history of this country of how people will make rash decisions contrary to morality and legality in response to …show more content…
The West Memphis Three began as the simple matter of a court case in a small town which eventually made its way to national fame. The Red Scare, contrarily, was a national crisis from its beginning. The differences in circumstances had a great effect on the people of each situation. The boys from West Memphis fell victim to small town mentality, whereas the government employees interviewed by McCarthy were subject to corrupt government power. Although there were differences in the circumstances under which each event took place, the results were not particularly different; in fact, they were quite similar in several
The purpose behind this paper is to inform the reader about the importance and the influential outcome of the Batson V. Kentucky case. A simple overview of the case is the offender James Batson was an African American male from Kentucky. Batson was accused of burglary and receiving stolen merchandise in 1981. During the court proceedings, the judge conducted voir dire to determine the ability of the jurors and discharge the jurors that did not meet the proper qualifications. When it was the prosecutors turn to make peremptory challenges, he utilized four out of the six challenges to remove the four African Americans who were left on the jury panel.
The people accused in the West Memphis Three case were Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols, and Jason Baldwin. These boys didn’t have a sufficient amount of evidence to be charged guilty. A few reasons they were considered guilty is because, Jessie Misskelley did confess several times witnessing these children being killed. Jesse Misskelley also had mentioned he has partaken in satanic worships.
Is it better to assume a man is guilty based on stereotypes and prejudice? Evidence must be substantial and confessions must never be forced or excessive. All evidence must be legally obtained, but sometimes things don’t happen the way they are supposed to. For in May of 1993, unspeakable acts rocked the community of West Memphis, Arkansas. Three boys would go on an innocent bike ride and never return, and three older boys were blamed.
In my opinion it seemed as though the police had a bias coming into the case, which is not right. Even though they were imprisoned the case was again opened up and there was an agreement that was reached with the West Memphis Three. Eventually there was an agreement that was reached that would finally give the men freedom that they had been waiting for. There was a plea agreement reached with the men.
In McClesky v. Kemp the Supreme Court held that a study showing the death penalty in Georgia was imposed on black defendants disproportionately to white defendants failed to establish that any of the decision makers involved in the process acted with a discriminatory purpose. McClesky is a notable case in several respects. First, it highlighted the integrated nature of the criminal justice system and how each component functions to reach a certain result. Second, it emphasized the debate on which actors in the justice system have the most power and what role that power plays in reaching the result. Third, the case also underscored the importance on prosecutors keeping records of their decisions at varying stages of the criminal justice process.
Can we shine the light on the West Memphis Three? Three teenagers named Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin spent twenty years in prison for a crime they did not do. Once convicting the boys of the murder of three young boys named Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and James Moore. This was the most gruesome murder to occur in this small town in Arkansas. These young boys got out to play together and never came back once the sun had set.
Many have said that history repeats itself. This has never been more evident then with the tragic events that happened with the Red Scare and the events in The Crucible. Both deal with mass hysteria and how accusers are given power and use that power for evil. In both the accusers look down upon the rest of the society and just accuse away with your accusing finger. What we learn from both of these horrible events is that we should never look down upon others or accuse someone of committing an "immoral crime" without seeing or never or hearing what really happened.
In times of fear and hysteria in the U.S. it is mass chaos and it only gets worse and worse. During the time of both the witch-hunt eras, whether for communist or actual witches, they prove to have many similarities between them. Both of these times were full of confusion and lying which lead to the temporary downfall of the authority at that time. Joseph McCarthy proved to be a factor in this time and add on to the chaos that was America. Arthur Miller wrote about these times in a book called The Crucible, based on the witch trial era.
Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.
This is comparable to Joseph McCarthy’s horrific attacks against innocent people, where President Eisenhower never spoke out against him in public, only privately criticized him. These political and social stains on American history provide insight to the past, and a warning for the future on how easily American society lets fear sway them into unwise
Austin Storie Mrs. Call American Literature January 31, 2016 Red Scare: The Era of Mass Hysteria Imagine being disowned from your family, losing your job, and facing jail time over an untrue rumor. That situation may seem farfetched, but it was a reality for some during the Red Scare. While government action during the Red Scare was intended to protect democracy, it did more harm than good.
Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare.
Title: How the Red Scare Relates to “The Crucible” Red scare formed in 1919 the climax of the Red scare is when the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United states intensifies During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. It caused the Americans thinking that the communists are a big Threat to them. The United States took actions to prevent the red scare taking over the United States which caused McCarthyism to form. McCarthyism is a practice of false accusations without any proof.
Annotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.
The Salem witch trials of the 1690’s portrayed by Millers the Crucible parallel The Red Scare of 1920’s, both events revolve around the fear of foreign ideology causing hysteria. In the 1960’s few individuals primarily a band of girls accused innocent people of practicing witchery. These accusations were false, but the court believed them regardless of inadequate evidence. Why, because the church and state were one and whoever who stood with the devil was against the court making witchery a crime. “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road between.”