Is Justice Truly Blind
We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." Thomas Jefferson wrote these immortal words in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. One has the right to impose the question "Are we truly equal?" simply by taking a look at American society. Presently, the United States is a country in which thirty-three percent of the male ages eighteen to thirty years old of African decent are in jail, on probation or parole. This is an exceptionally high statistic in comparison to their white counterparts. Some people argue that those statistics reflect high rate of crime, which is prevalent in African-American communities. Specifically the areas of concern are impoverished. The rate of unemployment is higher than the national average. The average income is considerably lower; this leads to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. In the nineteen eighties unemployment was high and so was inflation, crack became a channel of escape. Powder cocaine, whose usage also gave rise in the eighties was fashionable in upscale Caucasian neighborhoods and was viewed as glamorous and clean. Just as there is, a difference in the form of a drug that is preferred between the two ethnic groups so is the severity of j
Do white judges ever consider why there are so many black defendants in criminal cases? Do white judges ever wonder why so few black lawyers appear before them? Do they ever inquire about the history of bar associations that used to exclude Jews and blacks? Do they ever wonder, aloud or otherwise, why there are so few black judges? Concerns have revolved around having white judges who, in large numbers, are called upon daily to preside over the trials of black defendants accused of crime. Are they qualified for such sociological tasks, only incidentally mixed with law? Children are taught in school that John Marshall was the greatest chief justice the land has ever had, but not that on his tenth birthday he received a black slave as a gift and that upon his marriage he received another. Manning, Marable. Black Liberation in Conservative America. South End Publishing: 1997 ustice that is meted out. Federal law requires a mandatory sentence of five years for the possession of five grams of crack. To receive the same sentence for cocaine powder form, one must be apprehended in possession of five hundred grams. These disproportionate statistics leads to the notion of the existence of a bias in the justice system to keep the public unequal.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Criminal Court, Presently United, Supreme Court, Federal Courts, Karl Marx, Amadou Dialo, America's War, Armstrong Green, Kerner Commission, John Marshall, black judges, white judges, criminal court, social class, criminal court judges, possession five, defendants black, federal courts, five grams, goes bench, court judges,
Approximate Word count = 2117
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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