The Racism-Filled Justice System: Innocent People Behind Bars

Every year more and more innocent individuals are sentenced to serve time behind bars adding to a tremendous problem lingering in the court system. According to a massive amount of research gathered by Dr. Edmund Higgins, there have been 360 “wrongfully incarcerated people who have been arrested and/or convicted of a crime and later proven innocent” from 1997 to 2003. A number of these instances involve difficult cases that are very complicated to judge, such as those when false confessions or racism, while others are just outright obvious and unfortunate. These situations put a huge question mark on the validity of the court system and make many wonder what other factors come into light that influence the wrongful decisions. The case of Genarlow Wilson, a teenager from Georgia, is an example of an imperfect judicial system. Genarlow Wilson, honor student, homecoming king, and football star, was sentenced to ten years in prison for child molestation. He was 17 at the time of the incident. In 2004 during a hotel party, Wilson received oral sex from a 15 year old girl. According to Georgia’s law it was a misdemeanor because the girl was a year younger than the consented age. The minimum penalty was ten years and when the judge pronounced the case closed, that was exactly what Wilson faced. A much promising life took a turn for the worst.

The judicial system really went over the line with this case. A crime of child molestation is committed only if the encounter was not consensual. During the trial, both the girl “victim” and the prosecutor admitted to the individuals in the courtroom that she was the one that initiated the act. She even stated that she did not want Wilson to be incarcerated. With that said, the jury and the judge should have taken both into consideration and deem him innocent. Individuals who engage in sexual relations without their partners’ consent are criminals. Individuals who are considered adults and engage in sexual relations with a child or teenager are criminals. To convict a teenager, who consensually received oral sex from another teenager, to ten years in prison is absurd. Both Wilson and the “victim” knew what they were doing and were both in agreement. Where is the crime in that?

During 2004, at around the same time of Wilson’s trial, a female high school teacher was found guilty of having sexual relations with one of her students as stated in an ESPN the Magazine article. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail. This case, which truly defines a child molestation crime, was handled very lightly. It just does not make sense. Why is it that the judicial system is so inconsistent? Well the real shocker is this: the teacher was white. This was only the beginning to this heartbreaking ordeal. As time went on, various attempts were made to get Wilson’s case to the Georgia Supreme Court but his attorney received constant letters of denial. The first time the Supreme Court in Georgia voted on the case, the vote was four-to-three. It was no surprise that the four judges that voted against Wilson were white and the three that voted for him were black. Coincidence?

The system in this nation has many flaws that can be attributed to various important factors, one being racism. This world is overflowing with racism due in part to the fact that every single person alive has come across at least one negative thought about a person from another race or another race in general. Racism will never end. It has been around since the beginning and will never diminish. One possible way of attempting to clean up the racism issue in the justice system is to bring in psychologists as a screening method to expel the chances of a verdict being decided based on racist mind-sets. It would be the psychologists’ job to interview possible members of the jury to try and detect racist attitudes before they make their way into the court of law. The psychologists can also conduct psychological tests such as the “Implicit Association Test, a psychological test developed at Harvard University in which subjects hit computer keys to link black and white facial images to positive and negative words.” This type of test uncovers potential underlying stereotypes that individuals may have deep within them. If these procedures were mandatory in choosing who steps into the courthouse, it would save the judicial system the embarrassment and criticism that emerges in cases like the Wilson trial.

In an ESPN article on the story, Wilson states that he believes 2007 is the year of freedom. As the number of people introduced to this story increases, more help is offered. There are even websites such as wilsonappeal.com Even though the case first emerged in 2004, an array of coverage has been presented to the nation to try and put an end to a young man’s suffering. For example, just a few weeks ago the New York Times released an article stating that because the charges were dropped against the lacrosse players in the recent Duke University scandal, there is a signal of hope for the Wilson case. Not one person in their right mind would agree that Wilson deserves to be incarcerated for ten years. The Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution was devised to provide citizens with inalienable rights and it serves as the basis of the democratic ideals this country upholds. The Sixth Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial.” This case violates the Constitutional rights given to every citizen of this country. This young man was cheated and was given an unjust trial. There needs to be stop to this unconstitutional mêlée going on in the court system because individuals do not deserve getting treated unfairly. Innocent people should not be serving hard time in prison because of the imperfections of the justice system.