Judicial Equality Essay Research Paper The American

Judicial Equality Essay, Research Paper

The American judicial system is one of the most sophisticated and complex systems in the world today. It was designed to be accessible to anyone regardless of age, race, gender or religious belief.”The American legal system, which provides a peaceful alternative to violence in the pursuit of a more equal and just community, has been a substantial factor in maintaining the stability of American society.” (1) History has provided examples of judicial discrimination based on the accused’s racial heritage or gender. Although improvements have occurred within the legal system in regards to fairness and gender and racial heritage of the accused, they must continue to examine their practices. It is only through constant evaluation of the legal system that fairness can be achieved and maintained.

In November 1881, Tony Pace, a black man, and Mary Cox, a white woman, had been convicted in Alabama of the crime of living together in a state of adultery or fornication. The judge had been lenient and sentenced them to the minimum of two years in prison; he could have sentenced them to seven years. The law did not distinguish between mixed couples who were married and those who were not, because such unions were illegal in the state. Mr. Pace appealed the sentence on the ground that the law violated his Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws. The Alabama penalty for adultery between members of the same race was only six months. Justice Stephen Field delivered the unanimous opinion of the Supreme Court. The six months section of the Alabama law stated punishment for persons of different sexes, while the two to seven years section established a penalty for persons of different races. He stated that whatever discrimination was present, was aimed at the punishment in review and not against a person of any particular color or race.(2)

In 1959, a white jurist stated the following about legal marriage: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay, and red and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix.” (3) This example of racism is reflective of the judicial tone during that time period. Racial barriers had increased the separation of the races. Although many blacks achieved status in science, the professions and even business, the emphasis was always on the “separate” but equal.

In Florida, 1887, a law was adopted requiring railroads to carry Negroes and whites in separate cars and compartments. Other states followed suit. In New Orleans, a group of Negro leaders organized a committee to fight the separate-but-equal law through the courts. The railroad officials were sympathetic and helpful, some because they did not like the law on moral grounds, others because the hoped to avoid the extra expense of providing extra cars to satisfy the law. A member of the committee got himself arrested for sitting in a white coach on a trip from New Orleans to Mobile. Before he could be tried, the state supreme court ruled that the law could not apply to interstate passengers, since that was an area reserved for Congress. The committee sought counsel, and in June, 1892, Homer Plessy sat down in a car reserved for whites on the East Louisiana Railroad for a ride strictly within the state. Since he was lighter in color than many of the other white passengers because of his racial mix. arrangements were made in advance to arrest him and charge him with violation of segregation laws. Albion Tourg’ee was hired to defend Plessy in the court presided by Judge John Ferguson. Tour’gee asked the court to rule the Louisiana statute as unconstitutional. When Ferguson refused and ruled against Plessy, the case went on to the state supreme court and became Plessy v. Ferguson. The supreme court stated: “that the statute is prompted by prejudice on the part of one race to be thrown in such contact with the other, one would suppose that to be a sufficient reason why the pride and self respect of the other race should equally prompt it to avoid such contact if it could be done without the sacrifice of equal accommodations.” (4) It was said that “Justice is pictured as blind, and her daughter, the law, ought to at least be color-blind.” (5)

People of color other than white have often been the recipients of unjust sentences and poor legal representation. Poor defendants, on the whole, receive much harsher sentences than defendants who are able to pay for private counsel and supporting services. There is some suggestion that nonwhites receive harsher sentences than whites. Certainly there can be little doubt that white-collar offenders, who are usually affluent, receive more lenient sentences than street offenders who are usually nonwhite and poor. One need only to compare the sentences imposed on the Watergate felons with those imposed on the street criminals who steal a few dollars. Poor defendants must rely on the information, often inaccurate and prejudicial, presented by court investigators and public defense resources. It must be remembered that in the United States poverty is not distributed equally among the population. There are race, gender and age biases. Unemployment among Black Americans is double the figure for whites. In some areas it