Could Gary Freeman receive a fair trial in present-day Chicago?
Although there were many changes in American society during the civil rights era, the years of Reagan, Clinton, and Bush I and Bush II have served as an attack on and rollback of those gains. A simple look at prison statistics reveals little has changed. The current U.S. rate of incarceration for African-American males is four times what it was under apartheid South Africa. Whereas white males are jailed at a rate of 649 per 100,000, black males are thrown into prison at a rate of 4,810 per 100,000 (as of June, 2002). Amnesty International reports that “application of the death penalty in the United States is racially biased – and in some jurisdictions is reserved solely for non-white defendants,” describing the U.S. justice system as “infected with racial prejudice.” Apart from the allegation of March, 1969, has Gary Freeman ever been involved in any activity which has led to allegations of violence? None whatsoever. Would it be safe to send Gary Freeman back to Chicago? There are no
