After reading the essay “The Ghetto Made Me Do It” written by Francis Flaherty, I thought differently about the situation than I had before hearing both sides of this tragic story. My perspective changed from being bias toward Felicia Morgan to feeling a sense of sympathy for her. However, regardless of what defense there is to this story, it does not change how ruthless and tragic this homicide actually was.
It is said by Felicia Morgan’s attorney, Robin Shellow, that the environment in which Morgan grew up in was somewhat comparable to a “war zone.” In some ways I agree with Shellow and believe that there are similarities between the two. Although the attorney makes it clear that there is a difference between the ghetto and a war zone
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With all of the information that I have gathered about this case, it seems that I still agree with the result of the trial. I do believe that the jury made the right decision and that Morgan should be placed in prison and not allowed parole for an extended period of time. However, I do believe that everyone should get a second chance in life and that people can change and this is where I also agree with the final verdict in that Morgan should be able to gain parole or freedom from prison after ten to fifteen years if she has her college degree.
When I think about the case of Felicia Morgan, unlike many other cases I feel a sense of justice and a humane way of trial. In my opinion, the court ruled a verdict that was both ethical and punishable towards Morgan, but a fair amount of both. What Felicia Morgan did was tragic and brutal, no one should ever forget that, but she is human just like everyone else and even the worst of people sometimes deserve a second chance.
A fair trial is hard to come by nowadays seeing how our justice system is built, but this is definitely one of the few. Felicia Morgan should consider herself a lucky woman because there are many who have made similar mistakes as her and have not been given the same fairness as punishment. As a result, a defendant's lawyer plays a big part of a fair trial
Tommie Shelby is an American philosopher and a professor of African American studies at Harvard University. In his article “Justice, Deviance, and the Dark Ghetto” Shelby discusses poor, black neighborhoods that have persisted in America for decades due to few public policy efforts to make things better. In his article Shelby brings up two approaches to this dilemma that he opposes. The first is the personal responsibility approach which appeals to American values of hard work and ultimately places blame on the poor rather than the government or society. The Technocratic approach on the other hand does the opposite. It blames the government for failing to fix the social conditions of the poor and refuses to blame the poor themselves even if they have done actions that have not necessarily improved their well-being. Shelby’s approach is a mix between the two. He says that we cannot blame the poor if the injustice of our society has changed the content of their obligations and thus making their behavior reasonable due to the unfair conditions they were subjected to. In other words they are a product of their environment. Shelby wants to get his point across that the existence of ghettos today is evidence that our society impaired by structural injustices and that the ghetto is not only the problem of those living in it, but all of ours.
jury ruled her not guilty, but I do not see how with all the evidence that they had. With the
Ghettoside is a true story of murder in America and shows statistics that will amaze and bewilder its readers. The book was written by Jill Leovy and is written to show people how many murders happen in Los Angeles that don’t get reported to the community or the nation. Leovy gives shocking statements like, “In 2007 for every one white woman murdered in Los Angeles, one hundred black men are murdered in the same place”. Not only is this statistic shocking, it makes you wonder how this is possible.
Some could argue that this case illustrates the failure of the jury system. Despite all the evidence pointing to the guilt of the defendant,
I commence with this anecdote for several reasons one of which is to humbly acknowledge my unique, and privileged position as a Black female scholar in the midst of a war waged against Black bodies. Another reason is to recognize police brutality as a national endemic that plagues Black communities, unveiling remnants of anti-Black racism that legitimately suppresses the lives of Blacks in America . The non-indictments in each case concerning the sanctioned murder of Black youths evoke a
In the movie “Gangs of New York”, we see a city changed and reshaped through cultural influence of feuding individuals with different ideas. The movie is about a young man, Amsterdam Vance, who seeks to avenge his father, who was brutally murder in a gang dispute, against his adversary Bill the Butcher. On the surface the movie seems simple enough but in the back ground we see a cultural shift as immigrants come into America. Also we see political influences and material possession such as clothing and other belongings set people apart and define the social status of the
In her article “Gendered Racial Violence and Spatialized Justice,” Sherene H. Razack explores the murder of Pamela George; the way that her murderers’ sentences were lessened because of a variety of factors pertaining to Ms. George’s life; and the fact that the murderers were young, white, and middle-class men.
This question is important because it first reveals how American cities “simmered with hatred, deeply divided as always…. Time and again in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, urban white proved themselves capable of savagery toward their black neighbors…” (6). Unless documented in novels such as Arc of Justice, the deep racism and brutal mistreatment of black people in the past may fade away from memory. The question is also important because it explains how “the Sweet case did help move America away from the brutal intolerance of the
In this article Ethan is having a party, and having fun with a bunch of other friends that he invited to his party.On one tragic night where a church group was having a get together, a mother and daughter just outside with a woman that was in need of some help, and another group of teenagers were having a party where they were drinking and doing drugs. A teenager decides that he needed to go to a store to purchase some items, the catch is that he is drunk and not in very good condition. On the way back, he is horsing around and hit four people out on the open street and ends up putting an end to their life and changing people's lives.The justice system didn't do the correct thing by not setting him off with no charges what's so ever and no jail time. Now that is just unbelievable, I am sure many people believe that he should be either in prison or in some sort okay house arrest. Ethan needs to strongly learn that he is taking the action of killing these innocent people and putting their families in a crisis. According to the court,”The judge sentenced Ethan Couch to 10 years of probation and time in a rehab facility. “The judge should have sentenced him to at least house arrest or some amount of time in prison, Ethan needs to face the consequences that he mad on his on. Just like he had the time to create all this damage, he can also pay up the price for all the damage he created. Ethan should have faced many more consequences than what he obtained. Knowing that he damaged other human beings lives and now he isn't obtaining any life changing consequences? In my opinion the judges should've thought this situation thoroughly, but not a single soul can change the decision that was established.
Casey was cleared of all the charges that were in connection to the first degree murder that she was facing. Casey was also fine for each false statement she gave the jurors.
Almost every member of the black community in Maycomb County is admirable in their personalities and innocent in their nature, and this generalisation makes the crimes against the black community all the worse. Tom Robinson, a man discriminated and accused of a crime that he didn’t commit has come forth to the justice system. The color of his skin determines everything from his background too if he’s guilty or not. A black man’s life is unable to prove innocence because of his race. Poverty has affected many people back in the 1960’s but, if a black man or women were to experience this they would be put on the white
Her trial, which started 10 months after the murders, was lead by what towns’ people called the “dream team” of lawyers. The jury had 12 men on it that believed that she was not guilty because after they showed her the skull of her father in court, she fainted, and because she was a girl. They thought that no girl was capable of committing such a crime.
You’re standing in a crowd amongst thousands of fans at an Eminem concert, people from all over, shoulder to shoulder in a massive stadium, singing along every word of their favorite song for hours. People from all over are connected to each other through the power of music. When it comes to music, the life experiences, inspiration, and current events play a tremendously significant role. Hip hop is a form of art which can be expressed through rap songs, break-dancing, and graffiti art. The culture has become so popular that it has entered today’s fashion and modern language. Hip hop music is an extremely large part of today’s generation and a global genre, which influences the generation all over the world.
King of Rock n Roll, Elvis Presley, had a song in 1969 that took a drastic turn in theme from many of his other tunes relating to love, dancing and rock n roll. This song tells a tragic story which has very realistic connotations to the social problems of crime and poverty that were not only applicable to 1960s society but to our 21st century society. In this paper I will examine that song, titled “In the Ghetto”, highlight how the themes of the song relate to social disorganization, and further examine how the main character’s neighborhood takes the characteristics of a socially disorganized ecological environment perfectly.
Gangs of New York (2002), a bold and violent movie directed by Martin Scorsese takes us back to a New York without skyscrapers and modern-day lavishes that shows the rise of violent gang power and political corruption. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis, the film features a personal struggle placed within the context of gang warfare between Nativists and immigrants, which is set in the larger context of the Draft Riots and the Civil War. It is a reconstructed historical narrative that uses interlocking events filled with gang violence and political corruption to show how the modern New York was born.