The jury’s verdict for the Tom Robinson trial was guilty. The reasons why the verdict was guilty, is simply because they were racist. They all heard clear evidence on how Tom was guilty from Atticus, but if anyone on the jury were to disagree that a black man was innocent, they would have been shamed by the whole county. This case is based off of the real world trial involving the 9 black boys who were accused of raping 2 white women on a train, in Scottsboro. These boys were ranged from 13 to 20 years old, and everyone was put on death row, except the minor who got life in prison.
Although the court deemed Tom Robinson guilty Atticus uses rhetoric very well to try and convince the all-white jury that Tom Robinson, a black man is innocent. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in a small town in Alabama. He believes that every man should be treated equal and fair in a court of law. But the all-white jury does not agree with Atticus. In this time, the 1930’s many people believed that whites were superior to black.
To show, Atticus explains to his son Jem that the justice system is broken and favor white people no matter how strong of a case he could make, “There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (Lee, Chapter 23). Atticus has experience with these cases before because of his job and he knows how it all works, no matter what he does, nothing he could do would help him win if he was defending a black person.
They were talking if a Negro is going against a white person in a Jury the white person always win no matter who they are. In their conversation Atticus said “ In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always win. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (220). This relates to Racial Inequality because when a white person is going against an another white person one of the person should or must be guilty.
These men, due to their personal beliefs, decided to go against the rule of law and what they knew to be false evidence to convict a man purely because of his race. " Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts, Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed". Despite the questionable evidence against Tom, the jury had taken their prejudice and personal beliefs into the court, causing Tom to be at a disadvantage before the trial had even begun. They had deprived Tom of the basic right of equality within a court of law.
Atticus knew that Tom was not responsible for the crime, “... to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guild of the defendant” (2). This shows that Atticus doesn’t think Tom was guilty because there was no facts and his character has good judgement. Atticus felt sorry for Mayella, “ I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt”(4). This reveals that Atticus feels sorry for Mayella because she was beaten and the way she has been treated at home but not for lying. Mayella wasn’t real raped, “ Tom Robinson was her daily reminder of what she did.
The answer is no. and why is that? Because after the trial Tom tried running and he was shot 17 times. Tom Robinson was put on to trial for being accused of rape of Mayella Ewell. He was found guilty and in the end he was killed.
In my opinion that is truly unfair. It makes sense as to why Atticus decided to defend Tom Robinson. He continuously tries to find the good in everyone and believes that the black community contains good people. Atticus had mentioned to his brother, Jack, that Tom was innocent but “doomed”. It was impossible
Biased juries ruin lives. The reasons behind biased juries vary, but majority of the time it is because of the jury’s own personal morals. Juries’ morals range from racism to simply having a bad experience with the defendant. With biased and unfair juries an appeal can be extremely important to the defendant. In the 1950’s segregation and discrimination were at the highest, this did not help Black men and women.
When he was announcing the final verdict, “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: ‘guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…” (Lee 112). Before the trial even happened, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” meaning he knew he was not going to win (Lee 128). The jury was biased from the beginning because it was all white. The case wasn't fair because Tom never had a chance of winning because he was going up against a white man and a white man would always win against a black man.
One aspect of racism is present in the final decision of Tom Robinson’s court case. Tom was accused of raping a young girl named Mayella who has an abusive father named Bob Ewell. Despite the fact that the evidence proves Tom as innocent, it was decided that he was guilty because he is a person of color in court against a white family with an all white jury. While closing the case and trying to defend Tom, Atticus, Tom’s lawyer, states, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal” (Lee 274). Atticus stating that all men are created equal shows that everyone in court should be treated the same, regardless of race, gender, social status, or anything that is irrelevant to the case.
The justice system has always been the heart of America. But like this country, it has many faults. Prejudice has played a major role in the shaping of this system. In the 1930’s the way a courtroom was set up was completely different from how it looks to day. In the book To Kill A MockingBird, Harper Lee shows just how different it is.
Tenea Hansen Perspective can impact many factors in a person’s life; whether they are happy or not, how they act, and who they might spend time with. How one thinks about their circumstances and other people can also greatly influence individual’s personal beliefs. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys this idea numerous times through the characters. Three of the protagonists that exemplify this are Dill, Scout and Atticus. Dill is an excellent example of the idea that an individual’ personal beliefs are affected by his’ or her’s perspective.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
Why or why not? Would having an all-black jury have resulted in a different verdict? Tom Robinson did receive a fair trial; however, he was not fairly judged. Atticus ensured that he had the best chance of being found innocent. By showing plenty of evidence, and having strong statements.