Everyday people hear about arrests and murders on television or radios. Most of the time, the arrested “criminal” is African American or Hispanic. Personally, I’ve seen a lot of this on all the news channels I’ve watched and I also hear about these arrests among my friends. However, I’ve never actually seen in life, rather than just television, that most of the imprisoned are minorities. On April 26th, 2010, our english class took a trip to the Manhattan Court. This is where I saw real-life situations in which these minorities are the main people who are in court waiting to be punished or set free.
The moment I stepped inside the first court we attended to on the 10th floor, I saw that the judge was African American. The first thought was that there would be no injustice going on in the court since the judge herself, was an African American. I was not expecting anything wrong with this process.
After a few cases, I realized that some of them were so trivial that I started to wonder why they were there in the first place. Here is where I saw the error in justice. There was a teenage male who was arrested because he was walking with three other people in Times Square. Apparently, the cops, and possibly some public citizens, have judged them to be up to no good. What kind of case is this? There are a lot of people who walk in groups most of the time because its a tourist area. Even me and some of my friends go there to take pictures and watch movies. This teenage guy was most probably just arrested because of bias and racism. Of course, in the end, the judge dismissed this case because there was no proof that he was going to do any crime.
Usually on television, like Law and Order or CSI, the cases seem so dramatic and important. Although there are some bigger crime incidents (like the one in the second court that we attended to), most people do not see the actual cases that are a waste of time!
I think everyone in our society, especially New Yorkers, should visit the court at least once in their lifetime. Going to the courts, sitting in the audience, and watching this process go on visually teaches people the issues that are going on! I feel that if more people actually went to court and saw that some cases are just so ridiculously petty, then more people would speak up and impose more action on the government and the justice system.
What an excellent post! This is a very powerful endorsement, Irene! I am glad that our visit had such a big impact on you. I hope that your interest in this subject extends beyond the life of the class.