racial bias in courts
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Virginia Judge Rules Portraits of White Judges Prevents Black Defendant From Receiving a Fair Trial
A judge in Virginia’s Fairfax County has ruled that the portraits of white judges in the courtroom prevent Black defendants from receiving a fair trial. According to the Washington Post, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard issued an opinion on Monday saying that the portraits of the mostly white judges that have presided over…
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La. Court Rules That Man Who Said ‘Give Me a Lawyer, Dog’ Wasn’t Asking for Counsel
In the latest round of #Facts that prove the court system does not work for black people—especially those who lack resources—a Louisiana high court ruled that a man who said, “Give me a lawyer, dog” was asking for a “lawyer dog.” That’s right—the Louisiana Supreme Court recently ruled that when Warren Demesme, 22 at the…
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US Supreme Court Grants Last-Minute Stay of Execution for Ga. Man Convicted by a Racist Juror
Keith Tharpe, a Georgia man who was convicted of murder in 1991 and sentenced to death, did not die as scheduled Tuesday. Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court intervened at the last moment and granted Tharpe a stay of execution just three-and-a-half hours after he was scheduled to be put to death by legal injection, the…