Justice or Injustice
In the criminal justice system there is controversy in law enforcement. Due to the use of searching, detaining, and targeting individual’s criminal actions, the society has struggled with race and gender discrimination. The fourteenth amendment that was approved on July 9, 1868 during the Reconstruction Era was said to have the most difficult, unexpected effects. The fourteenth amendment says “that all persons born in the United States were citizens, and were to be given full and equal benefits of all laws.” What are police here for? The police duties are: to maintain peace, prevent robberies and other felonies, discover the crimes of the offenders, and apprehending …show more content…
With this in mind, on March 3, 1991 an African American male named Rodney King was pulled over by Los Angeles Police for speeding. They said he was going 120 miles per hour in a Hyundai, when they car cannot even reach that limit. The cops chased King all over the city of Los Angeles. Full of anger, once they stopped him, they jumped on him and started beating him saying that King resisted arrest, wasn’t obeying their commands and that he was either on drugs or drunk. An eyewitness videotaped officer’s using their tasers on him, kicking, stomping and beating King with batons. The officers beat him for approximately two minutes, giving king 56 blows from a baton and kicked 6 times. King also had 11 skull fractures, brain damage and kidney damage. Four of the officers were charged with excessive force and found guilty. Officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell received 30 months in prison while, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind were acquitted. The fact that Stacey Koon was not only the police office, but a sergeant who willingly permitted and failed to take action to stop the unlawful assault; made it seem even more racial. Los Angeles African Americans were not happy with the outcome and caused riots. They were fed up with this type of behavior from the police, who are suppose to be protecting and serving, but instead abusing and beating.
The Los Angeles riots …show more content…
February 26, 2012, in Stanford Florida, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American boy was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Martin went to the store to purchase some candy and a drink. Moments later, while walking home, there was an altercation between the two individuals. Martin, who was unarmed, got shot in the chest. Trayvon was very fond of hoodies, and was wearing one when he got shot. George Zimmerman was charged with murder and later acquitted, of second degree murder. A group of people including famous people protested and wore hoodies for the justice of Trayvon Martin. Even though Trayvon’s mother was traumatized, she still tired to keep the peace. Trayvon’s death was a tragedy and could have been prevented. If George was minding his own business Trayvon would have been alive today. There had been a mass of burglaries occurring around that neighborhood and Zimmerman took this as opportunity to be a superhero. With Trayvon being dressed in a hoodie at night, this escalated Zimmerman thinking he had finally caught the intruder. Zimmerman already had a bias against African American’s, which is stated, that he told the dispatcher. The dispatcher told him do not get out the car, but refused to listen and the ending result was Trayvon Martin getting shot and
In the criminal justice system there is controversy in law enforcement. Due to the use of searching, detaining, and targeting individual’s criminal actions, the society has struggled with race and gender discrimination. The fourteenth amendment that was approved on July 9, 1868 during the Reconstruction Era was said to have the most difficult, unexpected effects. The fourteenth amendment says “that all persons born in the United States were citizens, and were to be given full and equal benefits of all laws.” What are police here for? The police duties are: to maintain peace, prevent robberies and other felonies, discover the crimes of the offenders, and apprehending …show more content…
With this in mind, on March 3, 1991 an African American male named Rodney King was pulled over by Los Angeles Police for speeding. They said he was going 120 miles per hour in a Hyundai, when they car cannot even reach that limit. The cops chased King all over the city of Los Angeles. Full of anger, once they stopped him, they jumped on him and started beating him saying that King resisted arrest, wasn’t obeying their commands and that he was either on drugs or drunk. An eyewitness videotaped officer’s using their tasers on him, kicking, stomping and beating King with batons. The officers beat him for approximately two minutes, giving king 56 blows from a baton and kicked 6 times. King also had 11 skull fractures, brain damage and kidney damage. Four of the officers were charged with excessive force and found guilty. Officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell received 30 months in prison while, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind were acquitted. The fact that Stacey Koon was not only the police office, but a sergeant who willingly permitted and failed to take action to stop the unlawful assault; made it seem even more racial. Los Angeles African Americans were not happy with the outcome and caused riots. They were fed up with this type of behavior from the police, who are suppose to be protecting and serving, but instead abusing and beating.
The Los Angeles riots …show more content…
February 26, 2012, in Stanford Florida, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old African American boy was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Martin went to the store to purchase some candy and a drink. Moments later, while walking home, there was an altercation between the two individuals. Martin, who was unarmed, got shot in the chest. Trayvon was very fond of hoodies, and was wearing one when he got shot. George Zimmerman was charged with murder and later acquitted, of second degree murder. A group of people including famous people protested and wore hoodies for the justice of Trayvon Martin. Even though Trayvon’s mother was traumatized, she still tired to keep the peace. Trayvon’s death was a tragedy and could have been prevented. If George was minding his own business Trayvon would have been alive today. There had been a mass of burglaries occurring around that neighborhood and Zimmerman took this as opportunity to be a superhero. With Trayvon being dressed in a hoodie at night, this escalated Zimmerman thinking he had finally caught the intruder. Zimmerman already had a bias against African American’s, which is stated, that he told the dispatcher. The dispatcher told him do not get out the car, but refused to listen and the ending result was Trayvon Martin getting shot and