The story of Huwe Burton is a very sad story. It brought a lot of things to light for me that I wish were not true. The fact that it became law only after 2016 that all interrogations had to be recorded dumbfounds me because that would seem like something that should be standard practice throughout the United States. It is sad that the police convinced Huwe to admit to killing his mother when he obviously did not kill his mother. The weight of living with that would be terrible knowing that your mothers real killer was out and about and had gotten away with murder. I think that only the last part of his interrogation was recorded is a sign that maybe something was wrong and it needed further investigations. I am glad that Huwe Burton has finally gotten justice after spending nineteen years in prison. I think that this case should be studied by law enforcement throughout America because there are a lot of things that went wrong and could have been handled differently. The fact that he called 911 when he got home is also a big deal because if he murdered his mom, there is probably a high chance that he would not want to be a suspect so why would he kill his mother then call 911. This is a case where justice was not served at first, and I think that the innocence project is a great organization that needs to continue its work of getting innocent people acquitted for their crimes that they did not convict.-Legion001
Interrogations should always have been recorded. That way law enforcement officials are using methods that are in compliance with the law. They also should not try to pressure anyone to admit to committing a crime they know they did not commit. If he himself called the police when he found his mother dead it shouldn't make sense how the police mistook him as the prime suspect. -Ram001
I agree with your statement that that is is crazy that interrogations were required to be recorded only after 2016. I also thought the story of Huwe Burton was really sad. Not only did he lose his mother, she was murdered and he was practically forced to confess that he did it, when he knew that he did not. I agree that the innocence project is a fantastic organization and is responsible for saving innocent people like Huwe. Drums001
I can not begin to imagine the feeling knowing that the officials believe you killed your mother when in fact the actual killer is walking free in public. Hearing that it just became a law in 2016 to have all interrogations recorded is just crazy to me because if no one kept records straight facts could become crooked and corrupt people could change documents and result in you getting convicted wrongfully. -Blues001
I agree that living with a burden like that would be terrible. I feel as if plea bargains in our court system has a strong hold over wrongful convictions. I am also glad he was able to get some justice. This makes me think of the restorative justice aspect but how can one have restorative justice after having many years of his life taken away? For me, money won't cut it. Jackrabbit001
I agree that it is almost unbelievable that it only became standard practice for interrogations to be recorded in 2016 and I'm sure there would be many less people wrongly convicted of crimes if this had been the case much sooner. It is so heartbreaking that a sixteen year old not only lost his mother in a horrific way, but had to serve time while her murderer walked. -Reid001
Being black behind bars talks about African Americans being in incarcerated. We know that black people are more likely to get charged with crimes and sentenced more time than a white person, even if they committed the same crime. Karen Thomson the only black attorney at the innocence project and within its network stated, that in her class she teaches about race and law she talked about Punch v Virginia. Punch was a indentured servant who met two other servants that was Scottish and Irish. They decided to run away and when there were captured, the punishment for the two servant was additional years of service with a chance they might be free however, for Punch his punishment was that he would be a slave for the rest of his life and never be free. This happened around the 17th century, this case was one of the first cases showing the United States sentencing a black man to be a slave for the rest of his life. Its safe to say this came down to race and within the legal system. Karen also stated “Throughout U.S. history, the law has continued to reinforce and create racism.” Of people exonerated for crimes 61% of those people are African Americans or in total, 2,364 have been exonerated and 1,126 are black. Innocent Blacks are 3x more likely to get convicted of sexual assaults than white, 7x more likely to be wrongly convicted than murder, and 5x more likely to go to prison for drug possession than someone who is white. And lastly white people will spend about 7.4 year in prison before being exonerated a black person however will spend 10.7 years in prison. Unfortunately I have been a witness to wrongful convictions that happened in my family that resulted in “black behind bars.” the question now should be where do you go from here and how do we put some type of end to it. -21Aries001
It is sad whenever someone put is put in prison, especially people that are innocent. I think that the statistics you put into your post are very surprising statistics and there is a problem. I agree that a conversation needs to be happening about this issue because it is a big deal. -Legion001
I was surprised with the stats you mentioned and how white people are less likely to get convicted. Then people wonder why there are so many colored people in prisons and that basically confirms all their bias against them. Which is unacceptable because it doesn't help changing the stereotypes and racist ideas. tacos001
Restorative justice is definitely an interesting topic especially in the realm of schools and how it correlates to the prisons. This lady brings up some interesting points about how zero policies affect prisoners and it makes perfect sense. Once a child in a school gets in trouble with a zero policy rule, they will automatically think that they are a bad kid and just continue to get trouble because they think that they are just a lost cause. This is where she talks about how restorative justice comes in. If we eliminate the zero policy rules in schools, it is proven by statistics that trouble in schools decrease. This is especially sad to the inmates that are in prison now due to the fact that they got in trouble with a zero policy rule back when people didn’t think about restorative justice. Granted, they are offenders and they did their crime and serve their time. Some people may think that there should be a mitigating factor due to this, but I do not think so. They should have some type of psychologist when they’re in prison, like this lady. She has helped many prisoners and that is what we think we need in our system. -lilbaby001
The article Black Behind Bars looks into the reality and what it means for African Americans to be incarcerated. Statistics have shown that African Americans are more likely to be convicted of crimes and imprisoned. First they interview Karen Thompson, who is the only black staff attorney at the Innocence Project. They first discuss what it means to be black behind bars. Thompson tells them what other clients have told her. Such as the experience one of her clients had at a prison in Pennsylvania. The people and prison guards have rarely interacted with black people before. Now this will lead to the prison guards having stronger biases towards that race. There are millions of people in prison and on probation or parole, and the majority of them are minorities. She talks about a famous court case from the seventeenth century: Punch v.Virginia. It tells the story of John Punch who hung out with a Scottish man and an Irish man who all decided to run away. They were all caught and given a trial. Punch was sentenced to become a slave for the rest of his life and the other two were given a chance of being free. This is a very unjustified and very unnecessary punishment. Throughout the centuries there has been many forms of racism in the criminal justice system. Many African Americans have been wrongfully convicted of murder and have been sent to prison. Statistics show that black people are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites and 3 times more likely to be convicted of sexual assault. The Innocence Project after that asks their community what it means to be black behind bars. Most talk from personal experience about how they had spent years of their life locked away for a crime they did not commit. But there were a few who had a more positive view on what it means. All in all if a person is being convicted of a crime prosecutors must do all the work first to see if that person is truly guilty. -Ram001
This relates to the Huwe Burton case as to where African Americans are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted, and he was. This was probably a liable factor that came into play with his sentencing. The Punch vs Virginia case is an interesting case and it definitely shows how race can be implemented with sentencing. Granted, this case took place a long time ago and I am sure our criminal justice system will never be in this situation ever again. -lilbaby001
Black behind bars was an interesting article. Personally, I was not aware that it is just as racist on the inside of prisons as it is out in the world, but it makes sense now. I thought it was interesting when Karen Thompson brought up the fact that some Pennsylvania correctional officers mainly only see african americans in prison, not in the outside world. In theory, this wouldn’t be an issue, but in our world with racial bias, officers will begin to associate prisoners with african americans. Now, in the officer’s mind, all black people are criminals and all prisoners should be black. This is a huge issue. I also thought the court case that was discussed in the article, Punch v. Virginia, was interesting. After reading many examples of racism in the article, it was no surprise to me that John Punch, an african american, was sentenced harsher that people of lighter skin color who committed the same crime. What was surprising was that John Punch was sentenced to slavery for life. It is just crazy to me that people were cruel enough only 200 years ago to sentence another human being to a life of slavery. -Drums001
The association between prisoners and black people you brought up that some correctional officers in Pennsylvania may have is very interesting. Apply this scenario to any race really, if someone of color A works in a prison full of inmates of color B, and rarely sees people of color B outside of said prison, then of course they will implicitly, or sometimes explicitly associate the color B with criminals. Though this way of thinking is not necessarily factual, it is understandable on the surface level. -psych001
Imagine being 16, coming home from school to find your mother had been brutally stabbed to death. What do you do? You call the police, you reach out for help. That is exactly what Huwe Burton did. A 16 year old convicted of murdering his own mother, while he was at school and she was at home. After being interrogated for what seemed like an eternity, and already being assumed guilty the young Burton confessed to a murder he did not commit. He just wanted to, "get out of that room," which is understandable when you are being told that you are so obviously guilty, you may as well just admit to it. After serving nearly 20 years of his 15-life sentence, Burton was finally let free from prison, and had his record wiped clean. For a man that was forced to live in a concrete hole for almost 20 years for something he did not do, Huwe Burton, while being interviewed on the Today Show, seemed like he was at peace. When the interviewer asked about his attitude, Burton simply said that he believed there was no way he went through what he did for no reason. His kind of optimism is something we need much more of in this world. I think this case is one that we, as aspiring professionals in the field of criminal justice, should never forget. Cases like these need to be studied over and over again and used to push law enforcement officials to do everything they possibly can to keep innocent people out of our prisons. -psych001
I would be devastated. I really liked reading what you had to say. I cannot imagine what pain he had to go through serving a sentence when he didn't even commit the crime he was convicted of. This is sad. -Anchorman001
I cant imagine being 16 and put into that predicament he is very strong for fighting through that situation. I don't know how he was able to keep good faith and spirits serving nearly 20 years for a crime he didn't do. It is sad that his father died while he was in prison and didn't get that chance to see him out. The system failed him on so many levels its just so inexpiable. -21Aries001
This video is very sad and interesting at the same time. It is sad that Huwe Burton had to spend 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit even though he admitted to it. The reason he admitted to it is because he was being put under so much pressure and he wanted to do whatever he had to in order to stop being questioned. They basically interrogated him until he admitted he was guilty, being guilty or not. This is especially sad for one because his mother had just died, so he is already under a lot of stress and also he was a teenager so it is not like he fully knew what to do in this situation. It was basically a bunch of adult’s peer pressuring a teen and obviously adults are going to overwhelm a teen, so I do not really blame him for giving in. They say in there that false confessions are a factor in 28% of DNA exonerated cases. This number is way too high in my opinion as to which we should not peer pressure offenders into a false confession. They also say that this number adds when you factor age. 33% of false confessions were under 18 years of age at the time of their interrogation. This is sad that we have to interrogate teens to get a false confession out of them. I give Huwe Burton mad props for writing to all these people hoping for a response back. He knew that in the back of his mind that maybe no one would write him back, but that didn’t stop him from fighting. The fact that Huwe Burton had to go through all this hard work and stress just because the system failed him is unacceptable for any offenders regardless of age. -lilbaby001
Being black behind bars exposes the hard truth of what its like for African Americans in the justice system. They bring forward statistics in order to create change in the justice system by exposing the disparity of African Americans in prison. They offer clients an open ear trusting their every word. They explain that inmates are treated in such a way to feel “unworthy” of trust. They interviewed Karen Thompson who explains Black Behind Bars. She tells how many officers in Pennsylvania prisons have never really had any interactions with African Americans outside of prison. This of course is a problem. Guards may see African Americans differently now. They could potentially have an unfair view of them now. Later, Thompson shares the sad story of Punch. Punch was an African American indentured servant that wanted to run away. He and two other servants, one Scottish and the other Irish, ran away to find freedom. They were eventually caught and brought to court. The Scottish and Irish servants both received extra years of servitude for their escape attempt. However, Punch who was African American, was sentenced life of servitude. All committed the same crime, but they each had different sentences. Stories like this are far too common throughout America’s history. As I continued reading down the page, I found a list of quotes from African Americans wrongly put behind bars. Some quotes were heartbreaking while others were inspiring. One read “I knew I was going to prison for something I didn’t do. I trusted in the justice system and it failed me”. this quote speaks volumes about the justice system in America and how it must change. America needs to start recognizing the discrepancy of just how many African Americans are sent to prison, and with this knowledge make change. sexyinbikini001
Being black behind bars has a serious underlying issue that goes along with it, and that is racial bias. This interview is with Karen Thompson, who is the only black attorney of the innocence project and has a lot on her plate with fighting racial injustice in our criminal justice system. In one class she was teaching she taught about punch vs. Virginia, which was the case that showed our countries racial disparities early on involving the very harsh treatment of slaves and indentured servants. One exoneree was interviewed and stated that at the age of 21 he was wrongfully convicted for a murder he did not commit. Not only is that wrong in every degree, but the prosecutors were hiding evidence that would have set him free but he spent 16 years of his life locked up and the prosecutors walked free with no punishment. This is a very real issue in our country and reading these stories is just shocking of the bias still present in our system. Our criminal justice system is supposed to get justice for victims, not lock up those who have been wrongfully accused and steal years of their lives until someone such as Karen comes along to save these wrongfully accused and give them their freedom they deserve. Those who were wrongfully sentenced and sent to prison had trust in the justice system but it failed them and stole years of their lives due to unjust principles and bias that has been around for many years. All of these stories are very sad to think about because the families also suffer when their son or daughter is accused of a crime they did not commit. A justice system is designed to protect all citizens from the wrong doings of other citizens and if their is bias involved on the inside, it causes a system to fall apart and go against what it was originally intended to do. -Blues001
After reading black behind bars, I came across many things that caught my attention. It truly means something different to each individual. While reading the article, one of the first things that stuck out to me was they said that being behind bars and in prison is its own world or ecosystem and there are the exact same crimes happening inside and outside of prison. Just inside the prison is more close cordered. I thought that it was interesting how one of the clients was talking about how white cops were mainly the ones working in this mainly all black or brown prison. The client then went on to mention the fact that there was definitely a racial bias most likely going on in the town. Another thing that I found was interesting was the fact that there are currently over two million people behind bars. There are also five million people who are put on parole or probation. That is a ton of people, and the fact that the majority is black and brown folks is unbelievable. One thing that truly stood out to me and kind of grinded my gears a little bit was the fact that the United States continues to reinforce and create racism. After reading about that it made me think about implicit bias and explicit bias. It made me think about having white cops in almost all black prisons and how white cops may look at them and judge prisoners by their race and color and then how those cops may look at a normal black or brown citizen walking along the side of a road or in a store. There is a lot of times going to be some sort of racial problem in their minds. It may not be noticed by that police officer, and he may not realize that he is thinking that way but it is still in his mind. The fact that racism is always going to be recreated and always be a problem is heartbreaking to me. I like to think that I look at everyone as the same. We are all people no matter what the skin color. -Anchorman001
The Innocence Project is involved with Black Behind Bars and showing the multiple cases of wrongfully convicted people. It talks about how black and brown people deal with the different obstacles and issues thrown at them in and out of prison because of their race. There is Senior Staff Attorney Karen Thompson that shares the stories of her clients, shares her personal efforts and how she mentally struggles with it. She goes on to explain that a lot of the cases she deals with mostly is because of race and how its a big deal. Being behind bars was explained by people that have been to prison themselves not by Thompson. They said it’s like little ecosystems, they are structured a way that can break you more than rehabilitate you. A big problem with the wrongfully convicting colored people is the bias against them. Something interesting was the history of it, how it has shaped how people think today. Example given was Punch v. Virginia, involving 2 white men and a black man. They told the black man that he would be a slave for life and the white men that they most likely would get off the hook. Situations like those is what started bias against black people today and the presumptions of their innocence. To lessen the bias of someone there need to be interactions among them, but not everyone is raised or around black people. Which basically confirms their bias, like when they see black people in prison. I think the most interesting part of this is when it comes to changing anything data is needed and data isn’t always credible. So is there ever a chance to be able to change anything. Also, its was mentioned being able to exonerate people and put them in the place they were before conviction but how would colored people get that if they were never given the chance of being seen innocent. taco001
The Huwe Burton story is really one that gets you thinking. The experiences and the time lost to a system that set him up to fail. Its stories like his that make you realize that everything is still not perfect and that we are only just seeing the start of the effort to end racial bias. It is one of the few things where no matter who you are or where you are in the United States you have heard about it, seen it, or experienced it. Huwe got taken advantage of and had his life as a free man stripped away from him. The hopes and dreams he had as a kid we taken away so quickly because someone abused their powers, forcing him into making a false confession because he wanted so badly to get out of the room. And then seeing that it has only bee a few years since they have made changes so that the interrogations are filmed. Good for him for making the best out of what he has after suffering from a wrongful conviction. Huwe can't get the time back that he lost, he can no longer chase the childhood dreams that he had. It's great to hear that he has a clean record now and is able to get a fresh start in life, but at such a late age. I think his case should be talked about for years to come and shown to people who are interested in becoming involved with the justice system. And that it is not always perfect and that it only take a few people who are wrong to affect someone for the rest of their lives.-Purdue001
I agree that this story gets you thinking, I'm surprised that things like withholding evidence and miscommunications in trials actually happen and are so extreme that people lose half or more than half of their life when they are able to be proven innocent and just didn't have the time. - Lobster001
The black behind movement comes off as a very strong movement. As I am reading this I see very strong one sided points to hold up the central narrative. In my article, a whole screen is dedicated to saying "Throughout history, the law has continued to reinforce and create racism." I can completely see where this idea comes from. Our history with African Americans is not a pretty one and I am not saying racism does not exist anymore. But what I am saying is that this has died down in present generations. I believe that a huge part of the problem is generalizing and stigma around both groups. Police are seen to be racism and power hungry animals who are not trustworthy. African Americans are seen to be gang bangers and are never up to good. Once we end this idea from both groups I believe that there will a movement in a positive direction. This article, in my opinion, is very biased. I definitely agree that there are many wrongful convictions to not just African Americans but to all races, but the narrative behind the article leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and makes me believe that it only wants to tell you one side of the story. I do believe that black Americans are disproportionately targeted but that it being related to being the new slave trade is a little much for me. I believe the story at the beginning of the article was a very true reality. Being black in a small jail where the population is nearly all white can just reaffirm biases against a group of individuals. Jackrabbit001
The article on #BlacksBehindBars was very interesting to me. We are first introduced into the thoughts of Karen Thompson, the only black staff attorney at the Innocence Project. She is being interviewed and believes that the starting problem is that members of communities that are predominately white going into prisons as staff against mixes of African American and other colored inmates is a problem because they deal with them differently. I can understand this because there is always a sense of unfamiliarity when it comes to new people and surroundings so if we are not used to seeing a certain group of people we are bound to have some biased problems. I was also interested by the case of Punch v. Virginia because of the fact that three men who all committed the same crime together, 2 received different sentences from the African American while he himself received live enslavement. We clearly have some issues in our history when it comes to law enforcement, while reading I was surprised to see all of the problems that seemed to either keep coming up or get solved but an off-branch problem emerges. -Lobster001
In this article Senior Staff Attorney Karen Thompson explores the effects of racism in prisons and in the court room. She talks about how in some cases, like one of her clients' who was in a prison in a small town in Pennsylvania, the CO's may all be white and never had any meaningful interactions with people of color, so they don't really know how to act when coming in contact with an inmate who is African-American or Hispanic. This further feeds into the racism that many people in these areas already harbor because in the minds of these people, if someone is in prison, they don't deserve to be treated with common courtesy and respect. These people often don't take into account that a lot of people are wrongly imprisoned as well, so they have to deal with these attitudes when they are completely innocent and not at all deserving of the treatment they face on a daily basis simply because of the color of their skin. This is so sad to me because if people were better informed and more aware of their own biases, these inmates would be treated better and would not have to feel like less than human, which can happen. A lot of times people are wrongly convicted simply because of their skin color, so it really contributes to this nasty, never-ending cycle. It blows my mind how many people of color are in prison when they did not commit the crime because people are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but like this article points out, many times minorities are automatically seen as guilty just because they are that - a minority. Thompson also mentions one of the first known cases where a POC was given a harsher punishment than a white person even though they committed the same crime, which I found really interesting and thought it really added to the article. -Reid001
There is no question that incarceration rates among different races are wildly different. I agree with the arrival when it stated that there’s no way of investigating this issue without looking back to the past. Long held prejudice against the colored communities has resulted in higher incarceration rates among these groups. The article mentioned that there is no innocence seen in members of the black community. This was a very eye opening line for me. From before the current criminal justice system was even in place, people of color in this country have been stripped of their innocence, simply because of the color of their skin. It is easy to look at this situation and say that it is very wrong. But trying to find a solution is much more difficult. If there was a simple answer to the question of how to eliminate harmful personal beliefs and assumptions from all members in charge of the criminal justice system then I believe this problem would have been much closer to being solved by now. However, there is no easy way to strip away countless decades of hurtful and destructive teachings from generation on to generation. I believe that this is an issue that needs to be addressed if not by the current generation in charge then by the next. -Waterboy001
The first key point I recognized is that many inmates in America are black. This being said, many people in the prison towns and working at the prison are not used to being around black people in general. They have rarely interacted with them before. This justifies reason for people to harbor racism or pre-existing stereotypes. Also on top of this, many of these people are not always even guilty of crime. So being in a prison atmosphere, and undergoing racism is spiritually damaging and emotionally exhausting. Mass incarceration is a serious problem as it brings in money to prison and raises taxpayer dollar, along with racism demoralizing these men and women of African descent. Overall, it is just a legal effort to sculpt racial inequality in America. Throughout US history, racism has been present and reoccurring in a legal standpoint. Many officers alter their stories in race related cases, or claim actions happened on the “criminals” end that never happened. These are all keys that justify racism, as many African American men are sitting in prison cells for rapes or murders that they did not commit. This is fact. Many of these African American men take plea deals simply because they know the alternative could be much worse. This occurs even when there is hard evidence of innocence. These wrongful convictions are just too common and its heartbreaking. The assumptions of innocence is not present within the black community. A jury and judge see them and think they must have done it. A couple statistics I saw were that Blacks are 7x more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites. Innocent blacks are 3x more likely to be convicted of sexual crimes than an innocent white. It just comes to show that maybe black people are not as protected as whites in a court of law, and potentially not as much effort and analyzing is put into a black case, rather than a white one. -freckles001
The story of Huwe Burton is a very sad story. It brought a lot of things to light for me that I wish were not true. The fact that it became law only after 2016 that all interrogations had to be recorded dumbfounds me because that would seem like something that should be standard practice throughout the United States. It is sad that the police convinced Huwe to admit to killing his mother when he obviously did not kill his mother. The weight of living with that would be terrible knowing that your mothers real killer was out and about and had gotten away with murder. I think that only the last part of his interrogation was recorded is a sign that maybe something was wrong and it needed further investigations. I am glad that Huwe Burton has finally gotten justice after spending nineteen years in prison. I think that this case should be studied by law enforcement throughout America because there are a lot of things that went wrong and could have been handled differently. The fact that he called 911 when he got home is also a big deal because if he murdered his mom, there is probably a high chance that he would not want to be a suspect so why would he kill his mother then call 911. This is a case where justice was not served at first, and I think that the innocence project is a great organization that needs to continue its work of getting innocent people acquitted for their crimes that they did not convict.-Legion001
ReplyDeleteInterrogations should always have been recorded. That way law enforcement officials are using methods that are in compliance with the law. They also should not try to pressure anyone to admit to committing a crime they know they did not commit. If he himself called the police when he found his mother dead it shouldn't make sense how the police mistook him as the prime suspect.
Delete-Ram001
I agree with your statement that that is is crazy that interrogations were required to be recorded only after 2016. I also thought the story of Huwe Burton was really sad. Not only did he lose his mother, she was murdered and he was practically forced to confess that he did it, when he knew that he did not. I agree that the innocence project is a fantastic organization and is responsible for saving innocent people like Huwe.
DeleteDrums001
I can not begin to imagine the feeling knowing that the officials believe you killed your mother when in fact the actual killer is walking free in public. Hearing that it just became a law in 2016 to have all interrogations recorded is just crazy to me because if no one kept records straight facts could become crooked and corrupt people could change documents and result in you getting convicted wrongfully. -Blues001
DeleteI agree that living with a burden like that would be terrible. I feel as if plea bargains in our court system has a strong hold over wrongful convictions. I am also glad he was able to get some justice. This makes me think of the restorative justice aspect but how can one have restorative justice after having many years of his life taken away? For me, money won't cut it. Jackrabbit001
DeleteI agree that it is almost unbelievable that it only became standard practice for interrogations to be recorded in 2016 and I'm sure there would be many less people wrongly convicted of crimes if this had been the case much sooner. It is so heartbreaking that a sixteen year old not only lost his mother in a horrific way, but had to serve time while her murderer walked.
Delete-Reid001
Being black behind bars talks about African Americans being in incarcerated. We know that black people are more likely to get charged with crimes and sentenced more time than a white person, even if they committed the same crime. Karen Thomson the only black attorney at the innocence project and within its network stated, that in her class she teaches about race and law she talked about Punch v Virginia. Punch was a indentured servant who met two other servants that was Scottish and Irish. They decided to run away and when there were captured, the punishment for the two servant was additional years of service with a chance they might be free however, for Punch his punishment was that he would be a slave for the rest of his life and never be free. This happened around the 17th century, this case was one of the first cases showing the United States sentencing a black man to be a slave for the rest of his life. Its safe to say this came down to race and within the legal system. Karen also stated “Throughout U.S. history, the law has continued to reinforce and create racism.” Of people exonerated for crimes 61% of those people are African Americans or in total, 2,364 have been exonerated and 1,126 are black. Innocent Blacks are 3x more likely to get convicted of sexual assaults than white, 7x more likely to be wrongly convicted than murder, and 5x more likely to go to prison for drug possession than someone who is white. And lastly white people will spend about 7.4 year in prison before being exonerated a black person however will spend 10.7 years in prison. Unfortunately I have been a witness to wrongful convictions that happened in my family that resulted in “black behind bars.” the question now should be where do you go from here and how do we put some type of end to it.
ReplyDelete-21Aries001
It is sad whenever someone put is put in prison, especially people that are innocent. I think that the statistics you put into your post are very surprising statistics and there is a problem. I agree that a conversation needs to be happening about this issue because it is a big deal. -Legion001
DeleteI was surprised with the stats you mentioned and how white people are less likely to get convicted. Then people wonder why there are so many colored people in prisons and that basically confirms all their bias against them. Which is unacceptable because it doesn't help changing the stereotypes and racist ideas. tacos001
DeleteRestorative justice is definitely an interesting topic especially in the realm of schools and how it correlates to the prisons. This lady brings up some interesting points about how zero policies affect prisoners and it makes perfect sense. Once a child in a school gets in trouble with a zero policy rule, they will automatically think that they are a bad kid and just continue to get trouble because they think that they are just a lost cause. This is where she talks about how restorative justice comes in. If we eliminate the zero policy rules in schools, it is proven by statistics that trouble in schools decrease. This is especially sad to the inmates that are in prison now due to the fact that they got in trouble with a zero policy rule back when people didn’t think about restorative justice. Granted, they are offenders and they did their crime and serve their time. Some people may think that there should be a mitigating factor due to this, but I do not think so. They should have some type of psychologist when they’re in prison, like this lady. She has helped many prisoners and that is what we think we need in our system. -lilbaby001
ReplyDeleteI accidentally posted this to the wrong one. Ignore it. -lilbaby001
DeleteThe article Black Behind Bars looks into the reality and what it means for African Americans to be incarcerated. Statistics have shown that African Americans are more likely to be convicted of crimes and imprisoned. First they interview Karen Thompson, who is the only black staff attorney at the Innocence Project. They first discuss what it means to be black behind bars. Thompson tells them what other clients have told her. Such as the experience one of her clients had at a prison in Pennsylvania. The people and prison guards have rarely interacted with black people before. Now this will lead to the prison guards having stronger biases towards that race. There are millions of people in prison and on probation or parole, and the majority of them are minorities. She talks about a famous court case from the seventeenth century: Punch v.Virginia. It tells the story of John Punch who hung out with a Scottish man and an Irish man who all decided to run away. They were all caught and given a trial. Punch was sentenced to become a slave for the rest of his life and the other two were given a chance of being free. This is a very unjustified and very unnecessary punishment. Throughout the centuries there has been many forms of racism in the criminal justice system. Many African Americans have been wrongfully convicted of murder and have been sent to prison. Statistics show that black people are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites and 3 times more likely to be convicted of sexual assault. The Innocence Project after that asks their community what it means to be black behind bars. Most talk from personal experience about how they had spent years of their life locked away for a crime they did not commit. But there were a few who had a more positive view on what it means. All in all if a person is being convicted of a crime prosecutors must do all the work first to see if that person is truly guilty.
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This relates to the Huwe Burton case as to where African Americans are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted, and he was. This was probably a liable factor that came into play with his sentencing. The Punch vs Virginia case is an interesting case and it definitely shows how race can be implemented with sentencing. Granted, this case took place a long time ago and I am sure our criminal justice system will never be in this situation ever again. -lilbaby001
DeleteBlack behind bars was an interesting article. Personally, I was not aware that it is just as racist on the inside of prisons as it is out in the world, but it makes sense now. I thought it was interesting when Karen Thompson brought up the fact that some Pennsylvania correctional officers mainly only see african americans in prison, not in the outside world. In theory, this wouldn’t be an issue, but in our world with racial bias, officers will begin to associate prisoners with african americans. Now, in the officer’s mind, all black people are criminals and all prisoners should be black. This is a huge issue. I also thought the court case that was discussed in the article, Punch v. Virginia, was interesting. After reading many examples of racism in the article, it was no surprise to me that John Punch, an african american, was sentenced harsher that people of lighter skin color who committed the same crime. What was surprising was that John Punch was sentenced to slavery for life. It is just crazy to me that people were cruel enough only 200 years ago to sentence another human being to a life of slavery.
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The association between prisoners and black people you brought up that some correctional officers in Pennsylvania may have is very interesting. Apply this scenario to any race really, if someone of color A works in a prison full of inmates of color B, and rarely sees people of color B outside of said prison, then of course they will implicitly, or sometimes explicitly associate the color B with criminals. Though this way of thinking is not necessarily factual, it is understandable on the surface level.
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Imagine being 16, coming home from school to find your mother had been brutally stabbed to death. What do you do? You call the police, you reach out for help. That is exactly what Huwe Burton did. A 16 year old convicted of murdering his own mother, while he was at school and she was at home. After being interrogated for what seemed like an eternity, and already being assumed guilty the young Burton confessed to a murder he did not commit. He just wanted to, "get out of that room," which is understandable when you are being told that you are so obviously guilty, you may as well just admit to it. After serving nearly 20 years of his 15-life sentence, Burton was finally let free from prison, and had his record wiped clean. For a man that was forced to live in a concrete hole for almost 20 years for something he did not do, Huwe Burton, while being interviewed on the Today Show, seemed like he was at peace. When the interviewer asked about his attitude, Burton simply said that he believed there was no way he went through what he did for no reason. His kind of optimism is something we need much more of in this world. I think this case is one that we, as aspiring professionals in the field of criminal justice, should never forget. Cases like these need to be studied over and over again and used to push law enforcement officials to do everything they possibly can to keep innocent people out of our prisons. -psych001
ReplyDeleteI would be devastated. I really liked reading what you had to say. I cannot imagine what pain he had to go through serving a sentence when he didn't even commit the crime he was convicted of. This is sad. -Anchorman001
DeleteI cant imagine being 16 and put into that predicament he is very strong for fighting through that situation. I don't know how he was able to keep good faith and spirits serving nearly 20 years for a crime he didn't do. It is sad that his father died while he was in prison and didn't get that chance to see him out. The system failed him on so many levels its just so inexpiable.
Delete-21Aries001
This video is very sad and interesting at the same time. It is sad that Huwe Burton had to spend 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit even though he admitted to it. The reason he admitted to it is because he was being put under so much pressure and he wanted to do whatever he had to in order to stop being questioned. They basically interrogated him until he admitted he was guilty, being guilty or not. This is especially sad for one because his mother had just died, so he is already under a lot of stress and also he was a teenager so it is not like he fully knew what to do in this situation. It was basically a bunch of adult’s peer pressuring a teen and obviously adults are going to overwhelm a teen, so I do not really blame him for giving in. They say in there that false confessions are a factor in 28% of DNA exonerated cases. This number is way too high in my opinion as to which we should not peer pressure offenders into a false confession. They also say that this number adds when you factor age. 33% of false confessions were under 18 years of age at the time of their interrogation. This is sad that we have to interrogate teens to get a false confession out of them. I give Huwe Burton mad props for writing to all these people hoping for a response back. He knew that in the back of his mind that maybe no one would write him back, but that didn’t stop him from fighting. The fact that Huwe Burton had to go through all this hard work and stress just because the system failed him is unacceptable for any offenders regardless of age. -lilbaby001
ReplyDeleteBeing black behind bars exposes the hard truth of what its like for African Americans in the justice system. They bring forward statistics in order to create change in the justice system by exposing the disparity of African Americans in prison. They offer clients an open ear trusting their every word. They explain that inmates are treated in such a way to feel “unworthy” of trust. They interviewed Karen Thompson who explains Black Behind Bars. She tells how many officers in Pennsylvania prisons have never really had any interactions with African Americans outside of prison. This of course is a problem. Guards may see African Americans differently now. They could potentially have an unfair view of them now. Later, Thompson shares the sad story of Punch. Punch was an African American indentured servant that wanted to run away. He and two other servants, one Scottish and the other Irish, ran away to find freedom. They were eventually caught and brought to court. The Scottish and Irish servants both received extra years of servitude for their escape attempt. However, Punch who was African American, was sentenced life of servitude. All committed the same crime, but they each had different sentences. Stories like this are far too common throughout America’s history. As I continued reading down the page, I found a list of quotes from African Americans wrongly put behind bars. Some quotes were heartbreaking while others were inspiring. One read “I knew I was going to prison for something I didn’t do. I trusted in the justice system and it failed me”. this quote speaks volumes about the justice system in America and how it must change. America needs to start recognizing the discrepancy of just how many African Americans are sent to prison, and with this knowledge make change. sexyinbikini001
ReplyDeleteBeing black behind bars has a serious underlying issue that goes along with it, and that is racial bias. This interview is with Karen Thompson, who is the only black attorney of the innocence project and has a lot on her plate with fighting racial injustice in our criminal justice system. In one class she was teaching she taught about punch vs. Virginia, which was the case that showed our countries racial disparities early on involving the very harsh treatment of slaves and indentured servants. One exoneree was interviewed and stated that at the age of 21 he was wrongfully convicted for a murder he did not commit. Not only is that wrong in every degree, but the prosecutors were hiding evidence that would have set him free but he spent 16 years of his life locked up and the prosecutors walked free with no punishment. This is a very real issue in our country and reading these stories is just shocking of the bias still present in our system. Our criminal justice system is supposed to get justice for victims, not lock up those who have been wrongfully accused and steal years of their lives until someone such as Karen comes along to save these wrongfully accused and give them their freedom they deserve. Those who were wrongfully sentenced and sent to prison had trust in the justice system but it failed them and stole years of their lives due to unjust principles and bias that has been around for many years. All of these stories are very sad to think about because the families also suffer when their son or daughter is accused of a crime they did not commit. A justice system is designed to protect all citizens from the wrong doings of other citizens and if their is bias involved on the inside, it causes a system to fall apart and go against what it was originally intended to do. -Blues001
ReplyDeleteAfter reading black behind bars, I came across many things that caught my attention. It truly means something different to each individual. While reading the article, one of the first things that stuck out to me was they said that being behind bars and in prison is its own world or ecosystem and there are the exact same crimes happening inside and outside of prison. Just inside the prison is more close cordered. I thought that it was interesting how one of the clients was talking about how white cops were mainly the ones working in this mainly all black or brown prison. The client then went on to mention the fact that there was definitely a racial bias most likely going on in the town. Another thing that I found was interesting was the fact that there are currently over two million people behind bars. There are also five million people who are put on parole or probation. That is a ton of people, and the fact that the majority is black and brown folks is unbelievable. One thing that truly stood out to me and kind of grinded my gears a little bit was the fact that the United States continues to reinforce and create racism. After reading about that it made me think about implicit bias and explicit bias. It made me think about having white cops in almost all black prisons and how white cops may look at them and judge prisoners by their race and color and then how those cops may look at a normal black or brown citizen walking along the side of a road or in a store. There is a lot of times going to be some sort of racial problem in their minds. It may not be noticed by that police officer, and he may not realize that he is thinking that way but it is still in his mind. The fact that racism is always going to be recreated and always be a problem is heartbreaking to me. I like to think that I look at everyone as the same. We are all people no matter what the skin color. -Anchorman001
ReplyDeleteThe Innocence Project is involved with Black Behind Bars and showing the multiple cases of wrongfully convicted people. It talks about how black and brown people deal with the different obstacles and issues thrown at them in and out of prison because of their race. There is Senior Staff Attorney Karen Thompson that shares the stories of her clients, shares her personal efforts and how she mentally struggles with it. She goes on to explain that a lot of the cases she deals with mostly is because of race and how its a big deal. Being behind bars was explained by people that have been to prison themselves not by Thompson. They said it’s like little ecosystems, they are structured a way that can break you more than rehabilitate you. A big problem with the wrongfully convicting colored people is the bias against them. Something interesting was the history of it, how it has shaped how people think today. Example given was Punch v. Virginia, involving 2 white men and a black man. They told the black man that he would be a slave for life and the white men that they most likely would get off the hook. Situations like those is what started bias against black people today and the presumptions of their innocence. To lessen the bias of someone there need to be interactions among them, but not everyone is raised or around black people. Which basically confirms their bias, like when they see black people in prison. I think the most interesting part of this is when it comes to changing anything data is needed and data isn’t always credible. So is there ever a chance to be able to change anything. Also, its was mentioned being able to exonerate people and put them in the place they were before conviction but how would colored people get that if they were never given the chance of being seen innocent. taco001
ReplyDeleteThe Huwe Burton story is really one that gets you thinking. The experiences and the time lost to a system that set him up to fail. Its stories like his that make you realize that everything is still not perfect and that we are only just seeing the start of the effort to end racial bias. It is one of the few things where no matter who you are or where you are in the United States you have heard about it, seen it, or experienced it. Huwe got taken advantage of and had his life as a free man stripped away from him. The hopes and dreams he had as a kid we taken away so quickly because someone abused their powers, forcing him into making a false confession because he wanted so badly to get out of the room. And then seeing that it has only bee a few years since they have made changes so that the interrogations are filmed. Good for him for making the best out of what he has after suffering from a wrongful conviction. Huwe can't get the time back that he lost, he can no longer chase the childhood dreams that he had. It's great to hear that he has a clean record now and is able to get a fresh start in life, but at such a late age. I think his case should be talked about for years to come and shown to people who are interested in becoming involved with the justice system. And that it is not always perfect and that it only take a few people who are wrong to affect someone for the rest of their lives.-Purdue001
ReplyDeleteI agree that this story gets you thinking, I'm surprised that things like withholding evidence and miscommunications in trials actually happen and are so extreme that people lose half or more than half of their life when they are able to be proven innocent and just didn't have the time. - Lobster001
DeleteThe black behind movement comes off as a very strong movement. As I am reading this I see very strong one sided points to hold up the central narrative. In my article, a whole screen is dedicated to saying "Throughout history, the law has continued to reinforce and create racism." I can completely see where this idea comes from. Our history with African Americans is not a pretty one and I am not saying racism does not exist anymore. But what I am saying is that this has died down in present generations. I believe that a huge part of the problem is generalizing and stigma around both groups. Police are seen to be racism and power hungry animals who are not trustworthy. African Americans are seen to be gang bangers and are never up to good. Once we end this idea from both groups I believe that there will a movement in a positive direction. This article, in my opinion, is very biased. I definitely agree that there are many wrongful convictions to not just African Americans but to all races, but the narrative behind the article leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and makes me believe that it only wants to tell you one side of the story. I do believe that black Americans are disproportionately targeted but that it being related to being the new slave trade is a little much for me. I believe the story at the beginning of the article was a very true reality. Being black in a small jail where the population is nearly all white can just reaffirm biases against a group of individuals. Jackrabbit001
ReplyDeleteThe article on #BlacksBehindBars was very interesting to me. We are first introduced into the thoughts of Karen Thompson, the only black staff attorney at the Innocence Project. She is being interviewed and believes that the starting problem is that members of communities that are predominately white going into prisons as staff against mixes of African American and other colored inmates is a problem because they deal with them differently. I can understand this because there is always a sense of unfamiliarity when it comes to new people and surroundings so if we are not used to seeing a certain group of people we are bound to have some biased problems. I was also interested by the case of Punch v. Virginia because of the fact that three men who all committed the same crime together, 2 received different sentences from the African American while he himself received live enslavement. We clearly have some issues in our history when it comes to law enforcement, while reading I was surprised to see all of the problems that seemed to either keep coming up or get solved but an off-branch problem emerges. -Lobster001
ReplyDeleteIn this article Senior Staff Attorney Karen Thompson explores the effects of racism in prisons and in the court room. She talks about how in some cases, like one of her clients' who was in a prison in a small town in Pennsylvania, the CO's may all be white and never had any meaningful interactions with people of color, so they don't really know how to act when coming in contact with an inmate who is African-American or Hispanic. This further feeds into the racism that many people in these areas already harbor because in the minds of these people, if someone is in prison, they don't deserve to be treated with common courtesy and respect. These people often don't take into account that a lot of people are wrongly imprisoned as well, so they have to deal with these attitudes when they are completely innocent and not at all deserving of the treatment they face on a daily basis simply because of the color of their skin. This is so sad to me because if people were better informed and more aware of their own biases, these inmates would be treated better and would not have to feel like less than human, which can happen. A lot of times people are wrongly convicted simply because of their skin color, so it really contributes to this nasty, never-ending cycle. It blows my mind how many people of color are in prison when they did not commit the crime because people are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty, but like this article points out, many times minorities are automatically seen as guilty just because they are that - a minority. Thompson also mentions one of the first known cases where a POC was given a harsher punishment than a white person even though they committed the same crime, which I found really interesting and thought it really added to the article.
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There is no question that incarceration rates among different races are wildly different. I agree with the arrival when it stated that there’s no way of investigating this issue without looking back to the past. Long held prejudice against the colored communities has resulted in higher incarceration rates among these groups. The article mentioned that there is no innocence seen in members of the black community. This was a very eye opening line for me. From before the current criminal justice system was even in place, people of color in this country have been stripped of their innocence, simply because of the color of their skin. It is easy to look at this situation and say that it is very wrong. But trying to find a solution is much more difficult. If there was a simple answer to the question of how to eliminate harmful personal beliefs and assumptions from all members in charge of the criminal justice system then I believe this problem would have been much closer to being solved by now. However, there is no easy way to strip away countless decades of hurtful and destructive teachings from generation on to generation. I believe that this is an issue that needs to be addressed if not by the current generation in charge then by the next. -Waterboy001
ReplyDeleteThe first key point I recognized is that many inmates in America are black. This being said, many people in the prison towns and working at the prison are not used to being around black people in general. They have rarely interacted with them before. This justifies reason for people to harbor racism or pre-existing stereotypes. Also on top of this, many of these people are not always even guilty of crime. So being in a prison atmosphere, and undergoing racism is spiritually damaging and emotionally exhausting. Mass incarceration is a serious problem as it brings in money to prison and raises taxpayer dollar, along with racism demoralizing these men and women of African descent. Overall, it is just a legal effort to sculpt racial inequality in America. Throughout US history, racism has been present and reoccurring in a legal standpoint. Many officers alter their stories in race related cases, or claim actions happened on the “criminals” end that never happened. These are all keys that justify racism, as many African American men are sitting in prison cells for rapes or murders that they did not commit. This is fact. Many of these African American men take plea deals simply because they know the alternative could be much worse. This occurs even when there is hard evidence of innocence. These wrongful convictions are just too common and its heartbreaking. The assumptions of innocence is not present within the black community. A jury and judge see them and think they must have done it. A couple statistics I saw were that Blacks are 7x more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites. Innocent blacks are 3x more likely to be convicted of sexual crimes than an innocent white. It just comes to show that maybe black people are not as protected as whites in a court of law, and potentially not as much effort and analyzing is put into a black case, rather than a white one. -freckles001
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