Mariette Dekker
Professor Wood
Eng112
3 May 2014
A Modest Proposal on Sentencing Disparity
The chief purpose of a trial is to ensure and secure fair and impartial administration of justice between the parties to the action. A trial seeks to ascertain the truth of the matters in issue between the parties and to apply the law to those matters (“Trial”). The basic concept of a fair trial by jury has been in existence since the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215(Robinson). This idea has been in practice for hundreds of years and has been a fundamental and concrete provision in the establishment of the American criminal justice system. This concept is simple in nature but the process itself has become complicated in modern practice, mostly due to racial bias.
Discrimination and racism has plagued many aspects of the American culture, but this social stain is best documented in the court systems today. The marks are embedded upon sentencing and visible throughout prisons across the United States. Studies have found that racial/ethnic minorities are sentenced more harshly than whites even after legally relevant factors, such as offense seriousness and prior criminal history, are taken into consideration (Mitchell).
The solution is blatantly obvious; we just choose not to see it. To establish and maintain the integrity of our legal system we MUST end the rampant trend of racial disparity during sentencing. In order to prevent this injustice we must eliminate factors that enable discrimination in the courts. This can be accomplished by making it mandatory that ALL judges and jurors are 100% blind.
By implementing my plan we will be providing more employment opportunities for the blind and promote more ways for them to become involved in the community. It will also demand a more challenging testimony from lawyers, defendants, and experts who take the stand. This would be entertaining as well as facilitating the need to expand education because after all neither the judge nor the jury can see the evidence.