Source: kut.org
For our advocacy project in our “Race & Racism” course, our group decided that we wanted to focus on policing and the criminal justice system. We learned a great deal about this topic throughout our course, and we hope that we can provide the Wheaton College community with some insight and education materials. There are two different scenarios down below, in which you, the reader, must draw conclusions as to which scenario involves a Black man, and which scenario involves a White man. Afterward, there will be a more in-depth piece about policing and the criminal justice system in America.
Who is Who?
Scenario 1:
A police officer pulled over a vehicle for a minor traffic violation – the vehicle had only one working headlight. Upon speaking to the driver, he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. The smell was probable cause to search the vehicle. He instructed the driver to exit the vehicle and performed the search with a taser in one hand just in case this turned into a violent altercation. After searching for a few minutes, he found a bag containing one pound of marijuana. The driver was immediately arrested with possession and intent to distribute.
When arrested, the cop knew that some of the judges would find the “stop and frisk” unconstitutional, even though that’s what had to happen when he smelled marijuana. Possession of and the use of marijuana is illegal in the state that they were in. The cop cuffed him, shoved him in the back of his car, and started to drive. It was silent the whole way. After he was processed and sat in a holding cell for a while, he was brought to sentencing.
Fortunately for the cop, his stop and frisk stood up in court and he got to testify against the man. The man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute even though he did not have any prior convictions.
Scenario 2:
A police officer pulled over a vehicle for major traffic violations. It was clear that the driver was driving under the influence because he had driven through three red lights and the vehicle was drifting from side to side. Upon speaking to the driver, he smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle. The smell was probable cause to search the vehicle. He instructed the driver to exit the vehicle and performed the search. He found a bag containing one pound of marijuana. The driver was arrested with possession and intent to distribute.
When arrested, the cop knew that some of the judges would find the “stop and frisk” unconstitutional, even though that’s what had to happen when he smelled marijuana. Possession of and the use of marijuana is illegal in the state they were in. The cop cuffed him, put him in the back of his car, and started to drive. They started talking about each other’s lives, asking personal questions. After he was processed and sat in a holding cell for a while he was brought to sentencing.
The stop and frisk did not stand up in court, but there was still the possession charge. The man was sentenced to five months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute; he had two accounts of driving under the influence prior to this instance. However, he was released rather quickly after posting a bail of $200,000.
For the two different scenarios above, draw conclusions as to which scenario involves a Black man, and which scenario involves a White man. Post your guess as a comment on the ‘wheatonwire’ Instagram or Facebook post.
You can now check your answers with Part 2 of this article!