The Seventh of March Speech (March 7, 1850) Week 8

         “Now, Sir, upon the general nature and influence of slavery there exists a wide difference of opinion between the northern portion of this country and the southern. It is said on the one side, that, although not the subject of any injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, slavery is a wrong; that it is founded merely in the right of the strongest; and that is an oppression, like unjust wars, like all those conflicts by which a powerful nation subjects a weaker to its will; and that, in its nature, whatever may be said of it in the modifications which have taken place, it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not "kindly affectioned"; it does not "seek another's, and not its own"; it does not "let the oppressed go free". These are the sentiments that are cherished, and of late with greatly augmented force, among the people of the Northern States” (Daniel Webster).

This quote reflects the time when African Americans were slaves, and treated as not humans being.  This is a speech written by Daniel Webster supporting slaves. In his speech he is directing to the president and senates to abolish slavery. This quote also suggests a union nation. Webster states that, although slavery wasn’t considered wrong in laws, it’s considered oppression and discrimination against individuals. It reflects war and conflict between the North and the South. African Americans were killed and burned. When he says, “it is not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel”. I think he means that these attitudes of discrimination, oppression and conflict are not within God statutes. Christianity represents love, friendship, equality, kindness and peace. Furthermore, Slaves were from the south, and Webster wanted to stop conflicts between the south and the north.

This quote caught my attention because it reminds me slavery history. It’s so sad how African Americans were treated, like they were no humans. They had no rights to decide for their own lives. They were treated like an object that you can buy.  Likewise, they had no rights to learn to read and write. After slavery was abolished by Abraham Lincoln, discrimination stilled exist. After it was abolished, there were not slaves, but there was segregation involved. Everything was separated for whites and blacks, for example parks, schools, busses, houses, neighborhoods. These all were segregated for whites and blacks. Today in 2017, the constitution of U.S. says “all men are created equal”, but discrimination still exist. We can see segregation in different neighborhoods like Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. These boroughs are divided by different ethnic groups.  For instance, white Americans mostly reside in downtown Manhattan.  Finally, A lot people today still practice discriminatory beliefs. I think that discrimination and oppression still exist today in U.S. toward minorities, immigrants and people of color. 

Another Stab at the Constitution ( Week 7)

“As I have suggested elsewhere, clarifying and expanding the Eighth Amendment could help. It should specifically state that excessive terms of incarceration are prohibited, just as it bans excessive fines. It should expressly prohibit mandatory sentences so that every case gets the benefit of individualized attention by a judge. And it should insist that legislatures create a record showing that they considered empirical evidence about the law's likely impact.”  by Rachel Barkow

            This quote emphasizes that long terms of incarceration should be prohibited as the eighth amendment prohibits excessive fines and unusual punishments. As my understanding, Barkow suggests that this should be specifically stated and clarified in the eighth amendment as it says excessive fines. She also suggests that mandatory sentence should be prohibited. It suggests that each convicted should have an assigned judge and penalize them according to their crimes and history. There should be clear evidence of crimes and penalize them according to their crimes.

This quote caught my attention because this is seen a lot today. In my understanding, there’re people that deserve to spend a lot of years in prison. For example, those who have committed murder or rape. Every criminal deserves to be in prison including those who commit minor crimes. However, I think that 30-60 years is more than enough for a person to recognize their faults. In my opinion, 30- 40 years would be good for major crimes like murders.  Spending sixty year in prison or death penalty is frustrating. I think that regarding the offenders’ behaviors and conducts, through the years lower the years should be considered.  I think that 30 years in more than enough for them to analyze their crimes and behaviors, if the person is not mentally ill.  I’m against death penalty and lifetime prison, since this don’t give them the opportunity to demonstrate that they change, and that they can be a new person. 

I think that injustice is still seen in the United States. I agree that all criminals deserve to be in prison and pay for their crimes. However, there must be limits depending on their actions. I think that injustice is mostly seen because of the represented authorities and judges. Like Jamal Greene said, “in a democracy, no one person should wield so much power for so long. Article III of the Constitution provides that federal judges shall hold their offices during good behavior” . After being working many years, an old judge couldn’t be physical and mental stable to lead with such criminal cases.  A good example of injustice would be, the case of Kalief Browder. A college student who was convicted of robbery without any clear evidence. He spent three years in prison without been convicted of a crime, and no judge could stop that. As a result, in 2015, he committed suicide because of the frustration he lived.  I think that playing with people’s lives is not a joke, and there should be responsible, physical and mental stable judges to stop injustice.