Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird and in life, there is a lot of injustice. Atticus says that courts have their faults but a fault can ruin a person's life. A fault can let a killer go free, a fault can leave a mother heart broken, a fault can leave a family waiting for justice to be served. Atticus says that in court all people are created equal, but how can that be? How is a killer, a kidnapper, a drug trafficker, and a rapist equal to an innocent person? They are not equal because justice is not justice for all, and the courts are not equal nor the great levelers.

What is justice, the shooting of an innocent teenager or the shooter walking free? On August 5 of 2000, Quortez Jackson was shot in the head with a .38-caliber. (Sun) Quortez lived in a neighborhood that knew the violence, the scattered bullet casings, the blood shed. Most of us are taught the saying “see something, say something” but in a city where saying something can cost you your life most people stay silent. That was not what happened in Quortez's case. Four of his neighbors put aside their fears and identified his killer in court. (Sun) This was sadly not enough for a conviction. The defendant, Kenneth Davis, was acquitted after his defense attorneys argued that police blunders raised doubts about their clients guilt. Attorney Jerome Bivens stated that “police had mangled evidence, filed incomplete reports, failed to question potential witnesses and had taken nearly an hour to get a homicide team to the scene of the murder. " (Sun) Quortez Jackson did not get the justice he deserved, he became a statistic. Another young boy shot in the hood when he had done nothing wrong. The judge on his case told the defendant, "I hope that you don't think this is something you have gotten away with, ""Because there is a God, I firmly believe, and I believe there is a God whose business is justice. And when human beings fail at achieving justice, there is a God who has that franchise. "(Sun) That day in court no justice was served, no one was helped, all that occurred was pain. Quortez’s killer deserved to be behind bars and with four witnesses that identified him it was possible to do that, but because the police had mishandled evidence his killer walked free while he layed ten feet underground. The courts are not the great levelers when there is no justice, and a life is lost.

Is there justice for the men and women who were wrongly executed using the death penalty? The answer is no. The death penalty comes with a high risk of convicting an innocent person. The Death Penalty Information Center stated, “Since 1973, at least 186 people who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated. " (DPIC) That's 186 innocent lives lost because the system could not protect them. When the death penalty is imposed its crucial that every piece of inormation is found and that the convicted gets a fair trial. Most times this does not happen. The death penalty is a very big fault in the court system and it leads to justice not being served the proper way. The current justice system has many flaws, these are the same flaws that are in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In the book, Atticus is having a conversation with Jem and Atticus proceeds to say, "If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man, "(Lee 251) Atticus explains to Jem the way society is in Maycomb, In Maycomb a white man will always have more power over a black man. In Maycomb prejudice determines justice. Atticus contradicts himself because he tells Jem that if the jury was unbiased Tom Robinson would have been free, but a biased jury does not give off equal opportunity. Therefore in court not all people are created equal and the courts are not the great levelers. The definition of justice is, “the maintenance or administration of what is just, especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments. " (Webster) Many people have gotten justice.

One of which is a man who was shot and killed in Camilla, Georgia. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation stated, “The agency said a suspect, later identified as Jenkins, went into a home and confronted a man and woman inside. During the confrontation, several gunshots were fired and hit the man multiple times "(Walb) His killer is Ta'Cory Jondemaro Jenkins. The police found evidence and he is awaiting his charges. (Walb) The victim got justice and in his case the courts did prove to be equal. Sadly one case can not make up for the multiple cases of injustice. In Chicago six innocent people were shot, and one woman lost her life. (CST) The police say, “the shooters were targeting members of a rival gang, 23-year-old Kristina Grimes - a bystander apparently caught in the fray - was the only one killed, her body riddled with six bullets. "(CST) Kristina Grimes was just living her life when she was killed. Where is her justice? Gone. No one has been convicted even though there were witnesses. The justice system is flawed and while it does help some people, it doesn't help others.

The definition of injustice is, “absence of justice: violation of right or of the rights of another: UNFAIRNESS. " (Webster) In the book and in life the amount of injustice is astounding.

Court is a place where justice is served but just because some people get justice and others dont doesnt make it a great leveler. Atticus says the courts have flaws, but flaws can ruin a person. Flaws can be the end of a person's life. Flaws can lead to pain, sadness, injustice. Therefore not everyone is equal in court, because justice is not justice for all.

Works Cited

Chicago Sun Times. "Over 1,000 victims, 126 dead, just 2 convictions: 6 years of mass shootings in Chicago. " Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Sun Times, 2 August 2021,

chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/8/2/22559312/mass-shooting-victims-gun-viole

nce-crime-cpd-police-department-clearance-murder-arrest. Accessed 21 November 2021.

Death Penalty Information Center. "Innocence." Policy Issues, Death Penalty Information

Center, deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence. Accessed 21 November

2021. Haner, Jim. "Cases crumble, killers go free." The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Sun, 29

September 2002, baltimoresun.com/bal-te.murder29sep29-story.html.

Accessed 15 November 2021.

Lee, Harper. TO KILL A Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1960.

Merriam-Webster. "Justice / Injustice." Merriam - Webster, 1828,

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice. Accessed 21 November 2021.

Walb News. "Albany man arrested in Camilla shooting death." Walb News, 22 September 2021. Accessed 21 November 2021.