Mississippi case is a current example of a historical bias in the judicial process.
Quiet Lockdown:
The Scott Sisters, Black Women and Miscarriage of Justice in the South
by Stephane Dunn | TheLoop21
After serving sixteen years and their young adult lives behind bars, the Scott sisters are finally good headline news; Governor Barbour’s pardon of the Mississippi sisters and the stipulation – the gift of one sister’s kidney to the other is the feel good story of the moment; in truth it remains a tragic commentary about unjust justice.
Jamie and Gladys Scott, now 36 and 38, committed a crime, armed robbery which netted them 11 bucks, but then they were victimized by the system. The three black men involved pointed to the sisters for orchestrating the crime and served little time, while the Scotts were given an absurdly severe penalty: a life sentence. More than just another example of how the legal system has been unjust to black folk and women, the Scott case also speaks specifically to black women's historical experience with the judicial process. While black male persecution under the law has generated more publicity, ( for example the newsmaking 1931 Scottsboro Boys case) black females have shared a similar reality.
In the South, from slavery through the present, black women have had a long history of brutal mistreatment by racist criminal legal systems. Time and time again courts have famously denied black women their humanity and ignored the underlining racial politics that determined their fates.
Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21
Quiet Lockdown:
The Scott Sisters, Black Women and Miscarriage of Justice in the South
by Stephane Dunn | TheLoop21
After serving sixteen years and their young adult lives behind bars, the Scott sisters are finally good headline news; Governor Barbour’s pardon of the Mississippi sisters and the stipulation – the gift of one sister’s kidney to the other is the feel good story of the moment; in truth it remains a tragic commentary about unjust justice.
Jamie and Gladys Scott, now 36 and 38, committed a crime, armed robbery which netted them 11 bucks, but then they were victimized by the system. The three black men involved pointed to the sisters for orchestrating the crime and served little time, while the Scotts were given an absurdly severe penalty: a life sentence. More than just another example of how the legal system has been unjust to black folk and women, the Scott case also speaks specifically to black women's historical experience with the judicial process. While black male persecution under the law has generated more publicity, ( for example the newsmaking 1931 Scottsboro Boys case) black females have shared a similar reality.
In the South, from slavery through the present, black women have had a long history of brutal mistreatment by racist criminal legal systems. Time and time again courts have famously denied black women their humanity and ignored the underlining racial politics that determined their fates.
Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21
No comments:
Post a Comment