In society today, an individual’s identity plays a major role and it also gives an encrypting reason for the injustices that occur within our criminal system. According to Mr. Stevenson, an individual is more likely to be convicted based on their identity in the United States Criminal Justice system than their manner of innocents. Yet, justice should be served on whether an individual is actually deemed as guilty of the crime committed. In 1972, prisoners were estimated to the amount of 300,000. As of 2012, the prison system has been estimated to increase to about 2,300,000 prisoners and still showcases a continual increase in society today (Power of Identity).
Stevenson discusses five important ideas in his video “Power of Identity and the …show more content…
Today, in most poor communities, one in three percent of black men who are between the ages of eighteen and thirty are in prison, probation or parole this is a form of re-enslavement similar to the convict leasing system. As a result of criminal conviction, those individuals are permanently barred from voting. Stevenson states, “In my state of Alabama, about 34 percent of the black male population has permanently lost the right to vote - and that does have implications in these elections. Florida is another state where felon disenfranchisement has been extremely influential in election outcomes, and that’s I think …show more content…
Children ranging from the ages of thirteen and up have been tried in court as adults and are faced with harsh sentences to die in prison without the slightest consideration of their circumstances and age for the offense penalized against them. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, determined that “requiring that all children convicted of homicide receive lifetime incarceration without possibility of parole, regardless of their age and age-related characteristics and the nature of their crimes” is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment (Cost of Mass Incarceration). According to Stevenson, “The U.S. is also the only country with life sentences without parole for 13 year-olds…. kids don’t have the judgment, the maturity, the impulse control and insight necessary to make complicated lifelong decisions. They can’t make the same kind of long-term judgments. They don’t evaluate choices as carefully. They have poor impulse control. They are biologically vulnerable to peers and acting out in some circumstances — and all of that relates directly to the question of culpability” yet, nearly three thousand children are still tried as adults nationwide and have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because of past poor choices (Cost of Mass
Stevenson discusses five important ideas in his video “Power of Identity and the …show more content…
Today, in most poor communities, one in three percent of black men who are between the ages of eighteen and thirty are in prison, probation or parole this is a form of re-enslavement similar to the convict leasing system. As a result of criminal conviction, those individuals are permanently barred from voting. Stevenson states, “In my state of Alabama, about 34 percent of the black male population has permanently lost the right to vote - and that does have implications in these elections. Florida is another state where felon disenfranchisement has been extremely influential in election outcomes, and that’s I think …show more content…
Children ranging from the ages of thirteen and up have been tried in court as adults and are faced with harsh sentences to die in prison without the slightest consideration of their circumstances and age for the offense penalized against them. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the majority, determined that “requiring that all children convicted of homicide receive lifetime incarceration without possibility of parole, regardless of their age and age-related characteristics and the nature of their crimes” is a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment (Cost of Mass Incarceration). According to Stevenson, “The U.S. is also the only country with life sentences without parole for 13 year-olds…. kids don’t have the judgment, the maturity, the impulse control and insight necessary to make complicated lifelong decisions. They can’t make the same kind of long-term judgments. They don’t evaluate choices as carefully. They have poor impulse control. They are biologically vulnerable to peers and acting out in some circumstances — and all of that relates directly to the question of culpability” yet, nearly three thousand children are still tried as adults nationwide and have been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole because of past poor choices (Cost of Mass