Lynn Smith interviews a young 21-year old African American
male, Deandre Somerville in his home. Back in August of 2019 he was sworn in
for jury duty but failed to show up the next day. In her story, “Are we settling for a flawed justice system?”
Lynn Smith interviews Deandre Somerville. He states he returned to court and
went before Judge Kastrenakes and provided an explanation that he overslept and
did not realize the severity of jury duty. The judge did not have sympathy for
this young man, in fact, he sentenced him to 10 days in jail for missing jury
duty. In other words, the judge was saying well you’ll learn today. You'll know the severity of this before I'm done with you. Lynn Smiths states that even after the judge
hears that the young man had never been arrested. He still sentences him to 10
days in jail. Also, after knowing that Deandre was working and taking care
of his disabled grandfather, the judge depicts a harsh sentencing. This is an
example of the judge using his power to do what he wants. In this instance, he
utilized his authority to sentence this young man to a harsh unnecessary
sentence. He wanted Somerville to know and feel the consequences of not
showing up to court after being sworn in. Senator Bobby Powell stated, “Judge Kastrenakes acted in an unprecedented
manner to unfairly punish one individual for a minor transgression, singling
him out as an example solely because of his race.” The boy is an example of
what a lot of youth should be doing, instead of out getting into mischief,
gangs, violence, drugs. But the judge did not look at him that way. He saw the
color of his skin and enacted on that prejudice.
Lynn Smith points out the disparities in this courtroom. The
Judge Kastrenakes felt he had to set an example with young Deandre Somerville.
He wanted to prove a point and that was, if you don’t show up to his court you
will be punished to the fullest extinct
of the law. Lynn Smith points out that other youth in other more serious
cases have received a lesser punishment. They have killed people and have gotten
just a slap on the wrist and no jail time. For instance Zoe Reardon, the
teenager that killed 3 people, including a mother and her 3-month old baby. Reardon
claimed she wasn’t on her phone but phone records show she was on her phone a
few minutes before the crash. In another case, Ethan Couch, the teenager that
was driving drunk on a suspended license, and lost control of his speeding car
and killed four people paralyzing another. His defense was he was too rich to
know better. What Judge actually buys into that ridiculousness and doesn’t sentence
this teen to many years in prison for killing four people and permanently
paralyzing another. This is clearly an example of how judges utilize their power. These families are outraged as I would be as well. The Judge was probably given a large campaign donation from this wealthy family, a duffle
bag full of cash, because their son didn’t know better. The outcome of these
cases drew harsh criticism as the public pointed out the glaring similarity:
all the above-mentioned cases the youth were white.
Lynn Smith and onlookers question this Judge and the justice
system, and I agree with them. Would he have done this if Somerville wasn’t a
young black man? If 10 days in jail is such an important lesson on why not to
oversleep for jury duty, then what is the lesson for the lives lost to these
careless teens? Only after Judge Kastrenakes received such bad publicity and
criticism at his outrageous decision, did he decide to drop Somerville’s
probation and clear his record. Racism
is still present today in the courtroom, in the justice system, in the police
departments. The questions is “Are we settling for a flawed judicial system? We
as citizens should not have to settle for this, but indeed we are. If you don’t
have the cash to pay off the crooked crooks in the dark robes, then we have to
settle. But fight to settle, which means Speak Up and Speak Out about the
disparities that are in these courtrooms, police departments, all around the systems and
justice will eventually prevail for All
the People.
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