Tom Robinson's Judicial System

In the 1930’s many African-American people were constantly dealing with the racism of that time. People were getting lynched with no involvement of the government and segregation was common throughout the country. America was in one of it’s darkest times. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee, the case of Tom Robinson was unjust and a representation of many flaws in the system of justice. In Maycomb, Alabama its judicial system is flawed, due to the way it was constructed.

Racism was at it’s high in Maycomb, Alabama. Many African-American people were dealing with racism and discrimination every day. Atticus, who had defended Tom Robinson in his case against Bob Ewell knew from the very start that the jury would be biased and not favor Tom. He states on page

On page 215, Miss Maudie speaks about Maxwell Green who was originally positioned to defend Tom Robinson, “Did it ever strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no accident? That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him?” This insinuates that Miss Maudie was aware that if Maxwell were to be in charge of the case then Tom’s chances would have been slim to none. Judge Taylor was also aware of this and then changed the defendant to Atticus finch. Atticus had multiple years of experience and would understand the intensity of the case.

It is obvious to any person who has read the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, that the legitimacy of Tom Robinson’s trial is questionable. Tom is tried against a bias jury, with no intentions for considering his innocence. And he was given a death sentence that was unrelenting. The trial demanded a jury without bias or hate towards Tom, but for men like Tom Robinson their innocence was irrelevant to their future. Life is full of prejudice and discriminations, but it shouldn’t happen in the determination of someone 's