THE JUSTICE SYSTEM ISN’T JUST.
BY KEY’I MALONE — Staff Writer
Growing up we believe that the justice system punishes the guilty and only the guilty but that’s not always as it seems to be.
False accusations
According to The Innocence Project, a website devoted to fighting for people who were wrongly convicted, around 20,000 people a year are falsely accused of crimes they never committed. Now, you may wonder why the number is so high?
Well, there are many stem problems, but the root problem I believe is our justice system. There's good and bad in every scenario, and justice has its scale. In some cases, the police and lawyers pressure the defendant into confessing even if they didn't commit the crime they’re being accused of.
Other times, there are so many accusations made against a person that they may appear guilty even before they have had a chance to defend themselves. Although it may seem that with so many accusations at least one must be true, an accusation is only ever an accusation; without evidence, it should crash and burn. However, that is not always the case.
For example, David Morris, a Baltimore Maryland resident, was falsely accused of murder and rotted most of his youthful years behind bars despite not much evidence against him and claiming his innocence. In fact, the only evidence presented against Mr. Morris was a single witness who later admitted it was too dark and rainy for him to have seen anyone’s face! Despite this, the prosecution did not care; they wanted a guilty verdict at any cost no matter what. Thankfully, Mr. Morris was eventually set free. You can read more about his case here.
However, even if the accused survive prison physically and mentally, their life is often going to go below rock bottom.
Guilty Forever
The aftermath of a conviction is no better when the accused is released back into society. It's a downward spiral. The accused, whether guilty or innocent, were in a cage for a long time and when released the road to a better life is a fog. They simply don’t know what to do. Not to mention with the jobs that are available, that history of a conviction sticks on them no matter what. Often times employers will not even consider hiring an ex-convict, and even when hired, ex-convicts have often lost their social skills to work with others. As a result, they can't even support themselves only leading back to jail, and the cycle just continues. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, “During the first year following release, 19.9% returned to prison” in 2012. In addition,71% of people released from prison were rearrested within five years. It is ironic that they say prison will help them, isn’t it?
What's the fix?
I don’t have a perfect solution for this destructive cycle that has no end to it. However, there are some things that could be done to help improve the system. These include sentencing reform, parole reform, and other programs designed to help people overcome convictions to live successful lives.
While it is true that people deserve to be held accountable when they commit a crime, there's a line between retribution and empathy. Because while there are surely people who “deserve it,” there are also people who simply made a mistake, and I personally couldn't live with myself if I sent an innocent person to jail and later on ruined his life with my judgment.
