Should We Always Trust The Law?... And The People Who Enforce It? By Jess Bassom

"I would consider myself a confident person who likes to socialise and spend time with their friends in their free time. However, I have a more serious side and in my spare time also like to debate current issues in the world and consider different viewpoints about these issues."

In 1707, English law became one of two legal systems in different parts of the same  United Kingdom. Since then, the law is something that billions of people put their faith in daily: from trusting that people will be fined for not picking up their rubbish to trusting that  the big, bad criminals will be locked up in prison. However, devastating mistakes have made  many people in todays’ society, including me, question should we truly trust the legal system  that we have relied on for many years? If I say the names Derek Bentley and Elijah McClain  you may not recognise them. But that is where the problem lies, these two innocent people  deserve to be talked about more and how the law let them down should be exposed. 

Derek Bentley, a less recent example, was one of the last people to be executed under  the Death Penalty Act, as he was convicted of being involved in killing a policeman. His  friend Craig possessed a gun and when the police officer is said to have asked Craig to hand  over the gun he allegedly said – ‘Let him have it, Chris’ – which was interpreted by the court  as an incitement to murder, however after his death he has since been ruled an innocent man  and the ‘let him have it’ is believed to be him instructing his friend to hand over the gun. In  this case, the law failed Derek Bentley. In fact, his gravestone today reads the powerful phrase  of ‘A victim of British justice’. An innocent 19 year old’s life was taken, when essentially he  shouldn’t have even been convicted in the first place as he neither possessed nor fired a gun  and gave himself to the police without violence! Many would argue that since his execution in  1953, the justice system has developed and improved with the aid of technology and science,  but that is far from the truth. 

We live in a world where people whose roles are to protect are the ones we need  protected from. The justice system let the families and friends of Elijah McClain down when  in 2019 the police in Aurora, Colorado, restrained him with a chokehold that has since been  banned. The 23-year-old Black man died as a result of this. Elijah, who was wearing a ski  mask and who was described as looking ‘sketchy’, was walking home from a convenience  store, minding his own business when the police arrived, and after struggling to handcuff Mr.  McClain, officers brought him to the ground and used a carotid hold, which restricts blood to  the brain to render someone unconscious. After this they called first responders, who injected  him with ketamine. On the way to the hospital, he had a heart attack, and died days later,  after he was declared brain dead. Conveniently, body-camera footage of the arrest did not  come out for months and After Mr. McClain’s death, Officers Woodyard, Rosenblatt and  Roedema were placed on administrative leave, but they have all since been reinstated. On  Aug. 11, 2020, Mr. McClain’s family filed a lawsuit against the city of Aurora which sparked  an investigation into whether the Aurora Police Department has employed “patterns and  practices” that may deprive people of their constitutional rights. This is just one example of  many Black men and women living in America who have been wrongfully killed or mistreated  by people who are involved with the law. 

However, with more awareness on this matter and more intense police training to  reduce polite brutality, we can make a difference. It was found that training reduced  complaints against the police by 10.0% and reduced the use of force against civilians by 6.4%  over 2 years!  

Despite this, it is most likely that there are even more unheard of accounts of people  being mistreated by the law, and there is an overall wrongful conviction rate of about 6% in a  general state prison population (from a 2018 study by Charles Loeffler ) and just in the past  year and in the USA 961 people have been shot and killed in the past year. Things don’t seem  to be changing, leaving me to ask you the question… should we put our absolute trust in the  system?  

The opinions of this article are solely those of the author and are not intended to provide accurate legal advice for anyone to rely on. While the content is intended to be factually correct, the author does not accept any responsibility or liability arising from the use or misuse of this article or any loss/inconvenience/damage stemming from this. Legal advice should be sought from a qualified professional, not this blog. The opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the author, and do not represent those of the people, institutions, or organisations that the owner may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated, nor do they necessarily represent those of the blog owner. The views expressed by any podcast guest are their own entirely, and do not necessarily reflect those of the blog owner . The blog owner is not responsible and liable for any discrepancy, if any. Any content provided by this blog or its companion podcast is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organisation, company, individual, or anyone or anything.

References:

• Nytimes.com. 2021. Here’s What You Need to Know About Elijah McClain’s Death.  [online] Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/article/who-was-elijah-mcclain.html>  [Accessed 11 August 2021]. 
• Innocence Project. 2021. Research Resources - Innocence Project. [online] Available at:  <https://innocenceproject.org/research-resources/> [Accessed 11 August 2021]. 
• Washington Post. 2021. Police Shootings Database. [online] Available at: <https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/> [Accessed 11 August 2021].