Earlier this year, there was much controversy regarding the sentencing of an African American man named Albert Wilson. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, a lifetime of probation, and a mandatory sex offender title after he was charged for raping a woman back in 2016. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding this case because of the lack of evidence that placed Wilson in the position of being charged with rape. It was his word against hers without any concrete evidence to support their side of the events that took place that night. 
In response to this case, many have taken to social media platforms and even created a website that has compared this case to that of Brock Turner’s sentencing. Unlike Wilson, Turner received a prison sentence of nine months, of which he only served three, and only three years of probation. People have compared these two cases and believed that race was a factor that determined the sentences of these individuals. During the time of their hearing, both men were attending college and were part of a sports team, but something that had set them apart was their race. A study done at the University of Michigan Law School found that black offenders were 75% more likely to face a charge carrying a mandatory minimum sentence than a white offender who committed the same crime. 
I'm not surprised that they made Albert Wilsons sentence much longer than Brock Turner's. I agree that race was a factor that determined these sentences because Brock Turner got months in prison, yet Albert Wilson is getting years which does not seem fair in any way. It seems kind of normal to have an African American man do the same thing as a white male, yet get a harder sentence because of they are black.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Mariana, it really is not surprising that the sentences are significantly different. Brock Turner has been a case that has been circling around for years now. This is just a perfect example of white privilege which we learned about in class. Weather we are going to accept it or not, people view white people as less violent and less dangerous even when circumstances are the same with a black man.
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