Racism in The Legal Process

In the court case heard in front of an all white, affluent jury in Simi Valley, there was no justice for Rodney King, and there was absolutely no representation for him. There was only a group of people who could not understand the opposing point of view, and who respected the position of police officer and the white color of their skin, leading to an acquittal. This, of course, has been a problem with our legal system since the beginning of time. Once specific Case I would like to point to is called the Sleepy Lagoon Trial that occurred in 1942. On the night of August 1st, the 38th Street Gang had some altercations with an opposing gang at a reservoir known as the "Sleepy Lagoon". The next morning, the body of Jose Diaz was found , so they naturally took in about 600 Mexican American youths in for questioning, only because the 38th Street Gang was identified in the area. With no other evidence and only a whole lot of prejudice, the case went to court. The bias and hatred that the whole courtroom had against these young Mexican American boys and girls made it nearly impossible to present their case and receive an acquittal. This bias and racism extended outside of the courtroom, with the press pushing their racist views and biased opinions on the general public, making it so that a fair trial was completely impossible to achieve. It's infuriating to recognize this since the whole purpose of our legal process is to give all people a fair and equal trial, and to enter a courtroom "innocent until proven guilty". Not a single person who entered the courtroom during the Sleepy Lagoon Trial was presumed innocent, and there was no way to sway the judge or jury in the opposite direction. Just as the officers in the Rodney King case were never going to get convicted, these kids were never going to get acquitted. In both circumstances, the court case was a formality in order to attempt to explain and justify blatant racism.
  In present day, this discrimination and racism in the legal system is still very much apparent, and rears its ugly head in most trials which involve black people, specifically when compared to cases almost identical in facts, but with a white person going to trial instead. The modern day case that I will be focusing on is the case of Andre Thomas. Andre Thomas is a mentally ill black man who murdered his white wife and children. For this crime he was sentenced to death and is on Death Row. The prejudice and racism enters this case when we examine how he was portrayed throughout his life, prior to this horrific incident. Thomas would never have received a fair trial because in court he was painted a criminal in every sense of the word, with a long history of violence and hatred, and who doesn't deserve to be alive. However, if Thomas were white, the story that would have been told would include his mental illness, and how he killed his children in the hopes of freeing them from a demon he believed to live within them. It would also be described how he grew up in poverty, overcoming obstacle after obstacle and bringing joy and happiness to so many over the years. The true racism in the legal process lies in the story that is told about them and the implicit bias that each juror has entering the case.
-Sasha Monterroso