Molina & Patel 1

Roberto Molina & Shubh Patel

Dr. Bonner

English 1101

20 April 2022

The Justice System: Problem of Origin

America has a long history of injustice and discrimination against marginalized groups

and communities. As society has become more progressive, people have started to recognize

these problems and have sought to fix them. The criminal justice system is an institution that

desperately needs reform because it mistreats these marginalized groups. There have been many

proposals for changing the system but to little or no avail.

Angela Davis is among the first activists to talk about the prison and justice systems'

problems. In her book, Are Prisons Obsolete, Davis talks about how the prison has become a

staple in media and culture and how it is hard to view a society without it. She also discusses

mass incarceration and how people view criminals as evil and undesirable. At the time, the idea

of abolition was new, and not many people were supportive of her view. However, as time has

passed, people have become more open to abolition as an effective solution to the problem.

Michelle Alexander, the author of The New Jim Crow, is someone who followed in

Angela Davis’ footsteps and talked about the issues with the criminal justice system. At the time,

the country’s leaders used fear tactics about rising crime and the War on Drugs to crack down on

impoverished black communities. She discusses the history of the criminal justice system and its

close ties to previous forms of oppression. Another major literary work published after was Ava

Duvernay’s 13th. Similarly, in The New Jim Crow, Duvernay draws a direct link between slavery

and the prison system. She talks about the 13th amendment loophole, which allowed slave labor
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as a punishment for criminals. After the Civil War, the South used this loophole to rebuild its

economy by targeting black people with specific laws and racist police.

Recently, there has been a comprehensive work that connects many ideas from previous

authors and expands upon them. Derecka Purnell, the author of Becoming Abolitionists, compiles

many of her personal experiences and stories into her book and explains why that made her an

advocate for abolition. She discusses how it isn't surprising that the criminal justice system is

flawed, given its origin in oppression and racism. Purnell believes that the system is irreparable

because it is already working as intended. It works to protect power, and there will be oppression

as long as minorities are forced to deal with it. These authors and people affected by the criminal

justice system have all had their own experiences, which have led them to believe what they do.

It is essential that society listens to these people and creates solutions for there to be progress

morally and socially. The justice system is far from perfect, and people will likely argue about it

for years to come.

There is a dark history behind the criminal justice system that impacts people today. In

her book, Becoming Abolitionists, Purnell discusses this when she states: “our thinking had

developed into condemning the system of policing as a vestige of slavery, colonialism, and

capitalism” (Purnell 76). She is correct when she states that the police are a remnant of previous

oppression forms. The police were initially made as slave patrols to capture runaway slaves and

beat them into obedience. After the civil war, the south created laws known as the “Black

Codes.” An example of one of these laws is the “vagrancy laws that declared a black person to

be vagrant if unemployed and without residence; a person so defined could be arrested, fined,

and bound out for a term of labor if unable to pay the fine” (“Black Code”). A new wave of

police was then needed to enforce these laws, and the system enslaved black people once again.
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Khalil Gibran Muhammad is a professor of history and race at Harvard Kennedy School. He says

that in this era, the police were used so that “wealthy people could extract labor” (4:20). This

problem has persisted into recent years because of late-stage capitalism. People today still point

to this history whenever another black person is shot in cold blood by the police.

Although it is tragic when something like this occurs, it is unfair to say that the police

will never change. America was once a country that only allowed white men the basic

fundamental rights we all take for granted. Over time, America has embodied its core values

more accurately than its founders. It has done this through movements that have enacted real

change. For example, the Civil Rights Movement resulted in multiple breakthroughs for social

justice. There are many rights that black people did not have that they enjoy today. So to say that

the police are doomed to be violent thugs who cannot change is invalid. If so, America would

never have gotten past its history of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation. The police of today

claim to protect and serve communities from danger and harm. It may not live up to its motto as

much as we would hope; however, our society can stand up and make changes to reduce police

power while boosting its effectiveness.

The power of the police is due to their ability to wield military-grade weapons. The 1033

program allows the Department of Defense to give police military equipment. This includes

“combat vehicles, rifles, military helmets, and misleadingly named ‘non-’ or less-lethal

weapons” (“Federal Militarization …”). The militarization of the police contributes to a more

hostile environment when it should be about maintaining a safer community. 1103 has its origins

in the War on Drugs, where congress gave the pentagon authority temporarily to give military

weapons to police departments (“Federal Militarization …”). This type of equipment is

frequently used against protesters who are fighting for change and a better society. This is an
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egregious breach of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, and this program

exacerbates the problem. Congress should repel 1103 because it gives cops the wrong idea about

what they should be striving to do. Military equipment should be reserved for the military, while

police should focus on de-escalating situations and using nonlethal weapons.

Police are given lethal weapons to serve as a deterrent for criminals to retaliate against

the police or escape. However, deadly weapons inherently escalate situations, and not every case

requires them. The problem is that the police already own nonlethal weapons but choose not to

use them. The three most popular nonlethal weapons are “electronic control weapons (ECWs),

most commonly Tasers; batons; and pepper spray—are already in widespread use” (Harris). If

police are given these nonlethal options and resort to using their lethal weapons instead, there

must be a valid reason for doing so. For example, suppose there is a case where a police officer

uses a lethal weapon and injures or kills someone when there are safer options. In that case, that

police officer should never be employed as law enforcement anywhere again. To prevent this, we

need to be training police officers to think of using nonlethal options before lethal ones.

According to David Gutierrez, “agencies only provide an average of 8 hours of training for

Tasers, which is only 25 percent of the necessary training required according to manufacturers.”

If officers receive more training with nonlethal weapons, there is less chance for police to

escalate situations and potentially kill someone for no reason. A common position in recent times

is the idea of defunding the police. However, they should actually be funded more in order to

train them to be more capable of responding to various situations.

In order to have reputable trust in our law enforcement, we must be able to provide the

police with the necessary funding to be trained and be able to help serve our communities better.

The training regiment for police has been heavily focused on firearm skills while neglecting
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other important aspects of being an officer. Unfortunately, “police departments only offer an

average of eight hours in mediation skills. Moreover, only 39 percent of agencies mandate that

all officers go through conflict management training” (Gutierrez). The amount of training for

officers should increase in these fields to control their mental state in times of distress. The lack

of mediation training is reflected in other issues like police latching out against disabled people.

In Becoming Abolitionists, Purnell elaborates on police violence issues, stating, “cops escalate

violence disproportionately against people with disabilities and in mental health crises, even the

ones who call 911 for help”(Purnell 14). If police training is neglected, they won't know how to

deal with people who are disabled and continue to mistreat them. There are far too many videos

of emotional officers becoming brutal tyrants, and the training regiment reflects that. Moreover,

the continuation of these fierce conflicts leads to long-term consequences, which further divides

people and inflicts their safety. Therefore, if police are structurally provided with proper training

skills and equipment, we could see a dramatic change in conflicts with police and help justice be

served.

Though we have made significant progress toward dealing with many challenges of the

policing system, we should continue to work together to create solutions that will provide a safer

society for our future generations. The current state of the policing system has put us in a

difficult position and there must be a change or minorities will continue to suffer under it.

However, we should not just get rid of the criminal justice system entirely; that would lead to

grave consequences and an unsafe society. The real solution to the problem is instead to

demilitarize the police, fund the police’s training, and prioritize the usage of non-lethal weapons

creating a society that is safe for its citizens and will allow America's democracy to strive. If we

continue to put our differences against each other, we will suffer, and divided, we will fall.
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Works Cited

“Black Code.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/black-code.

“Federal Militarization of Law Enforcement Must End: News & Commentary.” American Civil

Liberties Union, 29 Sept. 2021,

https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/federal-militarization-of-law-enforcemen

t-must-end.

Gutierrez, David. “Why Police Training Must Be Reformed.” The Institute of Politics at Harvard

University,

https://iop.harvard.edu/get-involved/harvard-political-review/why-police-training-must-b

e-reformed.

Harris, Scott. “Product Feature: Less-Lethal Weapons Require Training to Be Effective Force

Options.” Policechiefmagazine.org,

https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/prod-feature-less-lethal-weapons/#:~:text=The%20

three%20primary%20less%2Dlethal,lethal%20weapons%20is%20running%20high.

Muhammad, Khalil Gibran, director. The Origins of Policing in America | Perspective.

Washington Post, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvo2OE5kqM.

Purnell, Derecka. Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom. ASTRA

HOUSE, 2022.
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AS IS: 92

Great start!

Intro and Overview/Thesis: 25

Good work with the opening.

Organization: 22

For the first half, I added paragraph breaks for what seemed like logical places for them.

In general, make sure you indent each time you have a new topic.

Claims and Support/Integrating Sources: 20

It was cool to see how much research you two did, but review the TIQA format as you

revise this–you have a lot of quotes that seem to come out of nowhere (though you did

assess them well).

Mechanics: 25