Thursday, May 25, 2017

Black Man Found Not Guilty of Crime, Still Sentenced to 7 Years In Prison

 

In today’s example of how the American justice system treats black bodies, we take a look at Ramad Chatman, a 24-year-old man who was found not guilty by a jury of his peers but will serve seven years in prison because ...

Come on, you know why. Read the first two words of the headline again.

According to The Independent, in 2012 Chatman was convicted of breaking and entering for stealing a television worth $120. It was his first offense, but because he was—again, you know why—Chatman was sentenced to five years’ probation. You read that right. He was 19, and a judge thought it necessary to make him property of the state for half a decade.

During his probation period, court papers show that he paid his restitution, attended every meeting, finished his community service and even kept himself employed.

Unbeknownst to Chatman, he was identified as a suspect in a convenience store robbery in 2014. Although he was on probation, which means that he was required to submit his whereabouts to law-enforcement officials monthly, Chatman was never arrested for the robbery. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: TheRoot.com

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