However, other people may be believe that the American Criminal Justice System is trustworthy and fair to all individuals. Thus, they believe innocents should have nothing to fear based on the assumption that the Criminal Justice System is never mistaken. Given the advanced technology used in courtrooms today, people think that this can always be depended on for accurate results. For instance, in modern courtrooms, prosecutors and attorneys use “undeniable scientific evidence” such as DNA testing and fingerprint evidence (Volokh). Therefore, some people think that it is virtually impossible for an innocent person to be convicted for a crime with this irrefutable technology. Even though attorneys and prosecutors should use scientific evidence …show more content…
For example, in the realistic fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a black man named Tom Robinson was falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Based on the evidence Atticus (Tom Robinson’s lawyer) presented in the story, it was clear that Robinson was innocent. However, Tom Robinson was still convicted based on the assumption of the time period (1930s) that all Negro men lie. The jury was terribly corrupt towards Tom Robinson because he was a Negro. Because of racism around the world and especially the country, innocents should fear the justice system. Moreover, another example is “the system is extremely racist, of course, white people are arrested less than many minorities” (Sachs). In this country, many innocent people are arrested and convicted based on the their race or religion. For instance, in a report by NBC News, a record-breaking 149 innocent people were exonerated in 2015. Around ⅔ of the people wrongly convicted were minorities. In one instance, a Latino man named William Vasquez was cleared of an arson that killed a mother and her five children in 1981. Vasquez was innocent, but he served thirty-one years in prison, where he went blind for untreated glaucoma (NBC News). He was sent to jail because the building owner (Hannah Quick) accused him of the arson. Before Quick was about to die, she confessed that she was lying; therefore, Vasquez was released from prison. Because of this mishap in the criminal justice system, he lost his eyesight and spent most of his life in prison. All in all, the justice system is extremely corrupt towards certain individuals based on race or
In TKAM justice is not applied equally, especially regarding white and non-white, and adult and child. With white and non-white one of the main reasons Tom Robinson goes to court for rape is because that he is a black man testifying against a white family. Even though the evidence obviously points to Mayella trying to kiss Tom Robinson, Robinson is still considered guilty because of his ethnicity. This is extremely unfair and biased because he is obviously innocent, and being persecuted for no reason other than the fact that the judge and people in the town are racist. With adult and child, Atticus tries to keep his children from the court.
Even with a matured technology, an immense amount of follow-up and research will still be required, and then who is to determine if the outcome will ultimately benefit the greater good or if an injustice will be imposed among the individual with no prior criminal history. Peikoff conveys both opposing and supporting outcomes of the public administrating this information, which includes: employer and academia abuses through unwarranted rejection or the ability to predict if a convicted criminal will be a repeat offender. The ultimate concern remains, can an individual be judged on actions not yet committed; therefore, being ruled by the what if? Piekoff ties the premises together by then expressing that acting on “biological predictions” (2013) would violate basic civil rights through the disregard of the Fourteenth Amendment, equal protection for all. A society who punishes individuals before proven guilty, solely based of scientific research, undermines the foundation of a free democratic country.
Valuable Lessons Great novels entertain the reader, but do more than just entertain. There are two very important plots in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The starting plot in the novel was the mystery of Boo Radley. Throughout the beginning of the novel Jem and Scout work to try to get Boo to come out of the house or to see him inside the house.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson represents the mockingbird because he is killed for just trying to live his life. In the trial where a white woman, Mayella Ewell, accused a black man, Tom Robinson, of rape, Tom Robinson is found guilty, although it seems to be clear that he did not do it. He then gets sentenced to death and while he waits for the death penalty, put into jail.
How would you feel if you were found guilty of a crime that you did not commit and you were wrongfully imprisoned for it? In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, an innocent black man whose name is Tom Robinson is found guilty of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Mayella exploited Tom’s kindness and generosity and this landed him in a courtroom facing a hefty jail sentence. She had the opportunity to tell the truth and set Tom free, but since she with-held the truth, this later leads to the death of an innocent black man. Mayella should be held fully and solely responsible, deserving condemnation instead of pity because she brought this problem upon herself, she broke the oath, and had the opportunity to rectify everything by telling the truth.
This should be shocking to us because of the “fairness” of our judicial system. It would be interesting to find how many of those black defendants' trials would be found innocent if they had a retrial with an unbiased jury like we all should have the right to. Since 1973, over 140 “lucky” death row inmates were released from death row, how many more are innocent are still on today? Our judicial system should not rely on “luck” alone. Our judicial system isn't perfect, nor will it ever be, because we in ourselves aren't perfect, so we should not rely on an imperfect jury to punish another fellow man that can't be
People don’t like to be proven wrong. When they are proven wrong they do drastic things to try and prove they aren’t. For example, in the cases of the West Memphis Three and the Central Park Five, people were proved wrong, but still did wrongful things, because of their ego. With modernized technology constantly coming out, it is important to use the new technology to have a more fair and accurate justice system.
During The Great Depression, families were stressed about money and they took it out on their children. In the story, To Kill A Mocking Bird. It was clear that Tom Robinson was innocent but during the time of The Great Depression, they did not believe him because he was a colored man that got accused of raping 19-year-old Mayella. The Ewells lived behind the dump and their home life was not the greatest causing Mayella to take care of the other children she had to save her alliance so they could have a better life. Getting treated differently could cause a lot of problems in a household.
In the Southern Gothic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, social racism is conveyed through the citizens of Maycomb and their actions and causes Jems coming of age. The trial of Tom Robinson ends with Tom ruled guilty, but all the evidence points to that he was innocent. The jury ruled that Tom was guilty just because of the color of his skin. This represents that the disease of racism spreads in Maycomb because of the actions of the townspeople. These actions cause Jem to lose his innocence and belief that all people can be fair and just.
These wrongful convictions occur because the criminal justice system had many flaws. It was not only the system that had flaws but also the people on the board. The prosecutors "opposed testing, arguing that it would make no difference" whether or not those being convicted got DNA tested (Garrett 1). Confessions was one of the causes that often led to the downfall of those innocently convicted. In the case of Jeffrey Deskovic, the police officer was supposed to conduct the polygraph examination.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the term mockingbird symbolizes innocence in a person. In the novel it focuses on the fact that innocence, represented by the mockingbird, can be wrongfully harmed. There are two characters: Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley that are supposed to represent the mockingbird. In the novel, Tom Robinson is the best example of a mockingbird because he is prosecuted for a crime he did not commit. Also, he was judged unfairly based on the color of his skin in his trial.
Unreasonable evidence is used and justice is not served, but injustice
A novel called To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. There is a case between an African American named Tom Robinson and a white woman named Mayella Ewell. She accused him of raping her. Tom was always kind to Mayella by helping her with things to do because he felt bad that she was always working. He passed one day and she asked him to get the box on top of the chiffarobe, so he got on the chair and got it then she put her hands around his leg, but she claims that he threw her down and raped her.
To kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Mockingbirds do not cause harm or trouble; in fact their only purpose is to convince others with beautiful music. Tom Robinson’s death can easily be compared to that of a mockingbird; it did no good but also prevented no evil. Mr. Underwood chooses to write an article that basically every citizen of Maycomb can understand, and this proves to the reader the obvious connection between Tom Robinson and the symbol of a mockingbird. Mr. Underwood chooses to ignore the prominent racial barrier that separated Tom Robinson from justice, and chooses to focus on his disability instead.
I am reading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I am on page 304. This book is about Tom Robinson’s trial. Bob Ewell is accusing Tom of raping his daughter, Mayella. There is no evidence that Tom committed this crime although he is still found guilty. In this paper I will be evaluating.