Right to a Fair Trial

According to the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have COMPULSORY PROCESS for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”

 

A Washington Post article notes how the US court system is unjust and people's backgrounds, race, and appearance play a significant role in people being condemned for crimes. It talks about how people looking at a resume will view it differently if it has an African-American name versus a white name. 

“They are doing it because they are engaging in automatic behavior which has been engrained over a lifetime of being exposed to a culture in which African American lives are devalued and blackness is coded with a lot of negative imagery.”

 

A possible solution: virtual trials

This means that the trial would take place in a virtual space where judges and jurors can’t see the defendant. 

“The defendant’s skin color shouldn’t make a difference in the outcome…. And yet from research we know that all these things are biasing factors. So why not control for these things by eliminating judge’s and jurors abilities to see the color of the defendant’s skin?”

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Judge Thayer presided over the Sacco and Vanzetti case as well as over the case of one Sergis Zakoff, who was charged with advocating anarchy. In this case, the jury's verdict was "not guilty", but this was challenged by the judge, who questioned the jury in an attempt to sway their decision.