Jared Smith

Mr. Bayer
English 11A, Pd. 2
12/11/14
Courtroom Injustice
In our world, more specifically the United States, we face injustices everyday. One injustice in
the world we can address specifically is courtroom injustice. People in court will sometimes face
sentences life sentences for a small crime, or face short term sentences for first-degree murder.
Even though there are charges that are far worse than others, social standings and areas of
employment affect someones sentencing. So to solve this problem, we can use our modern
technology to help or hurt those in court who need the right sentencing. One way is investing in
setting up high-quality cameras in low crime public areas and even in high crime public areas too
so we can see or hear any crimes happening. This can help put incriminating evidence on people
in court and it can always help with guilty or innocent sentencing.
One court case where camera recording actually was used was the Eric Garner case. In Staten
Island, New York Eric Garner was confronted by police to stop selling illegal cigarettes and he
resisted arrest and the policemen aggressively held him down to put the cuffs on him, and there
was one policeman who held him in an illegal chokehold. Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who held
Garner in a chokehold, killed him and did not get indicted. The Comptroller of New York, Scott
Stringer stated, "There are advantages of settling early and not going to court. Sometimes you
have to go to court and litigate cases," during an interview about civil rights. In fact he kept his
job and was reduced to desk duty by getting his badge stripped and gun taken away. Stated by
Bishop Victor Brown during a sermon at Mt. Sinai United Christian Church: "The police get

enough training; a mind-set is the issue. Enough is enough. Stop killing our people." Referring
back to the quote, the policemen have shown consistently in New York to have racially
motivated activity, including Pantaleo. The police actually noticed the camera after their attack
on Garner and if they were aware of the camera recording in the first place, they might have
acted differently towards him, since they would have been aware of their situation and the video
could be used against them. The technology of our modern world should be used as a very
decisive piece of evidence in court like the murder of Eric Garner was.
Another case where a victim of police brutality did not see justice was the Michael Brown case.
The officer, Darren Wilson, said that they allegedly got into a fight and then shot him down. This
case and the Eric Garner case both involved police brutality and one of them had been recorded.
The friend of Michael Brown, Dorian Johnson, was a direct witness to the shooting of Michael
Brown. When Wilson had threatened to shoot, and shot, Johnson said,"At no point in time did
they struggle over the weapon because the weapon was already drawn on us." Shortly after the
shooting, several testimonies had been stated but this one is one to be duly noted:On August 9th
after this happened when I got home, I wrote everything down on a piece of paper, would that be
easier if I brought that in? said Witness 40, or Sandra McElroy during the trial of Darren
Wilson. McElroy was a witness in the shooting though she never actually witnessed it stated on
December 16, 2014. Recorded video and/or audio again would have been more helpful than her
own account because security cameras dont lie. In this case, recording cameras would have
made more sense that the word of a person because people like McElroy can always lie on their
testimonies.
People in the United States of America face the injustice of having unfair court trials because
they commit a heinous crime and get little or no time in jail, or they face accusations of a crime,

and get about 30-40 years even though they did not commit it, or if they did it was petty. Placing
more high-quality security cameras in low-maintenance areas would be one way to solve it since
they can record audio and video so we can hear and see the full crime in motion. In these two
cases, we see policemen not receiving punishment for murders they committed, with one that
was recorded evidence. Video cameras in low crime public areas would be a huge boost to court
cases for evidence, and it will make criminals be more conscious of their actions because they
know a court case could not go in their favor with another factor of visual evidence.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-garner-case-new-york-pushes-for-settlement-in-chokeholddeath/
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/16/sandra-mcelroy-ferguson-witness_n_6334714.html
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/12/sandra_mcelroy_witness_40_in_ferguson_gran
d_jury.php