{"id":27110,"date":"2021-12-26T07:01:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T07:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/26\/the-unevenness-of-americas-justice-system\/"},"modified":"2021-12-26T07:01:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T07:01:55","slug":"the-unevenness-of-americas-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/26\/the-unevenness-of-americas-justice-system\/","title":{"rendered":"The unevenness of America’s justice system"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This week, two women appeared in court in the US on vastly different charges. Ghislaine Maxwell is on trial<\/a> for sex trafficking; Elizabeth Holmes<\/a> for fraud. Both women come from similar milieus: immense wealth, privilege and access to a glamorous life. Both are white and educated at elite schools. Both are armed to the teeth with the most expensive lawyers money can buy.<\/p>\n

Now, consider the case of Anthony J Broadwater, who was recently exonerated for rape charges in 1981 for a crime he never committed. His accuser is another privileged white woman, the author Alice Sebold.<\/p>\n

Mr Broadwater spent 16 years in prison after Ms Sebold \u2013 who had been raped as a student at Syracuse University in New York \u2013 accused him without actually being sure he was the one who attacked her. Supporters of Ms Sebold today say she was only 19 when this happened, and that she was pushed into accusing Mr Broadwater by her over-zealous prosecutor.<\/p>\n

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Anthony Broadwater breaks down on November 22, in Syracuse, New York, when a judge overturned his 40-year-old rape conviction. AP <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have no doubt that Ms Sebold suffered horribly as a result of the rape at such an early age. Still, the facts remain: Ms Sebold went on to write books using rape as a topic that gained her fame and wealth. Her novel The Lovely Bones<\/i> was made into a Hollywood film directed by Peter Jackson of the Lord of the Rings<\/i> fame. Her memoir Lucky,<\/i> about the rape and details of her trial, sold millions of copies and was about to be made into another film when the case was investigated and Mr Broadwater finally exonerated. Her publishers have ceased to distribute it. In the memoir, she gave Mr Broadwater a fictitious name \u2013 but it still meant he was branded a sex offender upon his release in 1998.<\/p>\n

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Please help rebuild Anthony J. Broadwater life. He spent 16 years in prison for a crime he didn\u2019t commit. It took 40 years to exonerate him. https:\/\/t.co\/OUpRWWzLLg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Janine di Giovanni (@janinedigi) December 22, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Mr Broadwater was only 21 when he was sent to prison. He tried repeatedly to hire lawyers to prove his innocence. Many attorneys turned him down, and he didn\u2019t have the financial means to secure the best defence. Meanwhile, Ms Sebold, who today lives in a $6 million mansion in San Francisco, has been trying to defend herself and has apologised. Mr Broadwater, finally cleared of this heinous miscarriage of justice, is extraordinarily generous towards Ms Sebold\u2019s feckless \u201cmistake\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a lot of courage,\u201d he said of her apology. \u201cI guess she\u2019s brave and weathering through the storm like I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Anthony Broadwater, after Judge Gordon Cuffy overturned the 40-year-old rape conviction that wrongfully put him in state prison for Alice Sebold’s rape. AP <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I think it is fair to say that even though Ms Sebold writes extensively about her victimisation and her Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is Mr Broadwater\u2019s life that was destroyed. Whatever potential the young man, a former marine, had in front of him was crushed when he was sent to prison. Had he been able to afford the kind of legal representation that Ms Maxwell and Ms Holmes employ \u2013 or had he been white \u2013 he most likely would have had an entirely different life. He has struggled to work after prison; finding jobs as a janitor and trash collector.<\/p>\n

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The track record for Black men getting justice in America is deeply flawed and disproportionate compared to white people<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, Ms Maxwell \u2013 the daughter of an unscrupulous British publishing magnate \u2013 was the longtime lover and enabler of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein who committed suicide in his cell. Ms Maxwell pleaded not guilty to six federal counts, including sex trafficking of a minor, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy.<\/p>\n

Ms Maxwell, 59, is nearly the same age as Mr Broadwater. But unlike him \u2013 whose mother died when he was a small boy, and who lived a marginal existence with a loving father and siblings and whose father tried desperately to clear his son\u2019s name before dying \u2013 she has lived the high life since the day she was born. Yachts were named after her by her father. She received an Oxford University education. With Epstein, she parachuted to Palm Beach, the Hamptons, the Upper East Side, Paris, London, the Caribbean. For whatever reason, both Ms Holmes and Ms Maxwell followed the creed that the more money people have, the more they feel above the law.<\/p>\n

If Ms Maxwell is convicted, she could be sentenced to go to prison for 70 years.<\/p>\n

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Elizabeth Holmes, centre, walks into federal court in San Jose, California, on December 17. AP <\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, Ms Holmes lied and scammed her way through Silicon Valley cheating investors and backers with her \u201cfake it until you make it\u201d approach to life. Her defence is to blame everything on her former partner, saying she was emotionally bullied. Again, clever, and expensive lawyers are working overtime to help her beat the rap.<\/p>\n

If I sound bitter, it\u2019s because the track record for black men getting justice in America is deeply flawed and disproportionate compared to white people. Without decent lawyers, they don\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n

In October, a report by The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based advocacy group, found that black people in America are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of whites. The report found \u2013 shockingly \u2013 that one in 81 black adults per 100,000 people in the US is serving time in a state prison. In Wisconsin, one in every 36 black adult Wisconsinites is in prison.<\/p>\n

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More from Janine di Giovanni<\/p>\n

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Many of these men are not given proper legal advice or representation, and some of the crimes include prosecution for low-level amounts of marijuana or loitering. Some \u201ccop a plea\u201d, that is, strike a plea bargain with the prosecutors. This means they often plead guilty to a lesser offence to avoid standing trial for a greater offence. Some plead guilty to a crime they did not do because they are afraid to go on trial \u2013 people who go on trial often get convicted and get much heavier sentences than those who plea bargain.<\/p>\n

If you want to know about justice in America, and you have the stomach, watch the television miniseries When They See Us by Ava DuVernay about the so-called Central Park Five. This is the true story of five boys who were accused of raping a white jogger in April 1989. Their accusation was based on police-coerced confessions. The five teenagers \u2013 some as young as 14 \u2013 all claimed their innocence. Yet, they spent between six and 13-plus years in prison for attempted murder, rape and assault. They were only cleared of charges when a serial rapist finally confessed to the crime in 2002. Meanwhile, their youth was spent behind bars.<\/p>\n

There are many good people in America committed to changing the system. The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organisation working towards criminal reform. Founded in 1992, it works using DNA testing to prevent future injustice. Their mission is to free the \u201cstaggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is a start, but America needs much more. We need to pass laws and implement policy that prevent wrongful conviction. We need to lessen sentences for first-time offenders and provide support for exonerees so they can rebuild their lives post-release. And we need to ensure that the law is the same for the Maxwells and the Holmeses, despite their wealth and influence, as it is for those who cannot speak or defend themselves.<\/p>\n

Published: December 26th 2021, 7:00 AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n