Just Mercy Before reading the book, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, I had very staunch opinions about the criminal justice system, juvenile offenders, capital punishment, and race in America. Being raised in a religious household with strict conservative values, I acquired biased opinions on the way the United States’ justice system really worked and firmly believed that it was fair, balanced, and served its purpose for the good of society; However, after reading Stevenson’s novel, I became self-aware and realized I was completely obvious to the tragedies that innocent people faced, and continue to face, each day under the crooked criminal justice system. Two or three years ago, if someone asked me if I was interested in politics, I would…
Bryan Stevenson’s novel, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, focuses on the narrative of one of his first cases as a young lawyer. He shares the story of Walter McMillian, a young man sentenced to death for a murder that he did not commit. Stevenson’s primary objective with this novel is to draw attention to broken criminal justice system. The utilization of a primarily logos argument can only be justified if their is equality within the given system. However, when issues such as systemic inequities in punishment are being discussed, pathos is an important additional strategy.…
In his book Just Mercy, author Brian Stevenson details many of the failures of justice that he has personally witnessed in his long career as a public interest attorney. Mr. Stephenson relays each case as a personal story. As a reader, I found myself sympathizing with many of the people Brian Stevenson worked to defend. I found myself shocked by how poor and underprivileged people were so often treated horribly coldheartedly by our justice system. Before I had believed our justice system to at least be fair and impartial.…
The Jungle Antanas Rudkus- Jurgis’s and Ona’s oldest son. Very much loved and cared for, by his family. Antanas, just as his father was portrayed as a strong, well-built boy. Unfortunately, after Ona’s death while Jurgis was at work, he drowned in a puddle of mud. Ultimately ending the little hope Jurgis had left.…
American criminal justice system enforces our laws and keeps watch over us but who is watching over the system? Oversight over the system may after all, be less than optimal going by various criminal cases tainted by prosecutorial misconduct resulting in wrongful convictions. From law enforcement, the elected officials, the court system, to corrections, prosecutorial misconduct gained notoriety because of the absolute immunity they enjoy. According to Silverglate, (2000), “We now live in a time of sharply decreasing faith in the criminal justice system.” This decreasing faith might not be unconnected to the egregiously bad behavior that dots the criminal justice landscape.…
As I reflect back on the modules we covered during this semester, two particular topics really grabbed my attention “Wrongful Convictions” and “Justice Reinvestment.” These two particular topics provided me another perspective how America’s adversarial system has some deeply rooted flaws embedded it. In which, these flaws have created loopholes in the legal system to allow the local, state, and federal agencies to manipulate the people’s ‘due process and protection against self-incrimination’ during questioning of investigations by law enforcement agencies. In which, walks a fine line with these loopholes in the adversarial system to violate people’s Constitutional rights in the 21st century.…
Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America’s Largest Criminal Court strives to discuss the corrupt practices that are occurring in the courts of Cook County, Illinois. This book was written by Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, is 272 pages in length, and was published on May 4, 2016. It wastes no time sugar-coating the great amount of racism that occurs in the courts in Cook County, going into great detail as soon as the book starts. All within the first chapter, Gonzalez Van Cleve covers just about every aspect of the people within the courthouse. She discusses judges, security, and attorneys stating that no matter which courtroom she was in, they were always all white.…
Larry Watson’s Montana 1948 and Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men both view society in a negative light that is full of prejudice and injustice. By placing both of these texts in a pessimistic view, readers are able to see that all humans are flawed. Both authors are able show that character’s varied ideologies, mistakes, and traits are a part of human nature. Watson displays these ideas through Wes and Julian whilst Rose mainly shows this through Jurors 3 and 10. Equally, Watson and Rose showcase in these texts that prejudice and injustice are prevalent and damaging to society.…
14 Ronald Cotton, who spent eleven years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, was supposed to live in an average life. How an innocent man was put into prison? Where is the justice that we often talk about? Whenever I read the book Picking Cotton, I feel my heart beating very strongly for what Ronald suffered. However, Ronald’s case is not isolated.…
Even though this book is based on the criminal justice system in America, It makes you wonder if the cases would vary depending on where you are located in the world. This book defiantly will open people 's eyes to what is really happening in our society that is unknown to…
The justice system of America is constantly criticized for being unfair. The establishment of an unfair justice system is due to bias and bigotry. The play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose shows the prejudices of the system as twelve different men, from different past, must concur and make a verdict on a murder case. The author indicates that the justice system is unfair through biases portrayed in the juror’s dialogue, past history, and attitude in making a verdict.…
Destiny Bush Essay “A caning in Singapore stirs up a fierce debate about crime and punishment” (Reyes 181). Both texts “Rough Justice” by Alejandro Reyes and “Time to Assert American Values” by New York Times, have their own point of views with handling the Michael Fay situation. “Rough Justice” is for harsh punishments if laws are broken. “Time to Assert American Values” is going against tough punishments such as caning or death. After carefully analyzing the two text, the reader realizes that the article “Rough Justice” has the most relevant and sufficient article to support it because of the way the author uses logical reasoning and evidence.…
Whether it be in decisions made in daily life or a court decision to condemn criminals, we as people are constantly looking for the right answers and constantly trying to eliminate the wrong answers. Using Hanna’s admitted illiteracy, Bernhard Schlink is able to create a tense and dynamic situation which pushes the readers to think about how we approach the exploration of right and wrong and also express his own opinions on how unreliable the law system can be. The line that separates right and wrong and the line between Hanna’s exploration of her guilt and her morals are blurred so that they no longer resemble black and white issues. In The Reader, author Bernhard Schlink uses Hanna Schmitz’s illiteracy to present the complexities of the search…
Crime Control Name: Institution Affiliation: Date: Crime Control How Emotivism Can Be Used To Understand the Perspective of All Parties except the Student If the practice is approved, emotivism can be used to understand the point of view of all the parties that include the police and the prostitutes. Emotivism notes that moral utterances lack the truth value and only expresses the feelings and emotional worth of the person talking. It, thus, can be used to understand the perspective of the police because they disregard moral in reaching the decisions they react at. For example, they failed to stop and question the women prostitutes.…
Philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti once said, “The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.” (Vajda, 2009). However, every person on this planet is guilty of passing judgement on other individuals. Whether the evaluation be made in a local grocery store or in as contentious an environment as a United States courtroom, humans are all guilty of judging individuals by their perceived covers. In an ideal world, legal punishments would reflect officials’ objectivity toward permissible evidence, however, empirical research has revealed additional arbitrary factors.…