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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - VI. Justice - 26. Courts, Sentences and Prisons - 2. Discrimination in Court
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Chapter 26. Courts, Sentences and Prisons 551
In criminal cases the discrimination does not always run against a Negro
defendant. It is part of the Southern tradition to assume that Negroes are
disorderly and lack elementary morals, and to show great indulgence
toward Negro violence and disorderliness “when they are among them-
selves.” They should, however, not act it out in the presence of whites,
“not right out on the street.” As long as only Negroes are concerned and
no whites are disturbed, great leniency will be shown in most cases. This
is particularly true in minor cases which are often treated in a humorous
or disdainful manner. The sentences for even major crimes are ordinarily
reduced when the victim is another Ncgro.^** Attorneys are heard to plead
in the juries: “Their code of ethics is a different one from ours.” To the
patriarchal traditions belong also the undue importance given white
“character witnesses” in favor of Negro offenders. The South is full of
stories of how Negroes have been acquitted or given a ridiculously mild
sentence upon recommendation of their white employers with whom they
have a good standing.^®
The leniency in punishment of Negro crime against Negroes has repeat-
edly been pointed out to the present writer by white Southerners as evi-
dence of the friendliness of Southern courts toward Negroes. The same
thing can be found in the writings of Southerners.^® Yet the Southern
Negro community is not at all happy about this double standard of justice
in favor of Negro offenders. Law-abiding Negroes point out that there are
criminal and treacherous Negroes who secure immunity from punishment
because they are fawning and submissive toward whites. Such persons are
a danger to the Negro community. Leniency toward Negro defendants in
cases involving crimes against other Negroes is thus actually a form of
discrimination.
For offenses which involve any actual or potential danger to whites^
however^ Negroes are punished more severely than whites.^^ Particularly
the lower courts which work on a fee system are inclined to fine Negro
defendants heavily without giving them much chance to explain their case.
The inclination of the Southern court to make legal punishment a paying
business® operates against Negroes who can be fined or sent to the peni-
tentiary almost arbitrarily. Negroes alone are subject to a special form of
legal injustice which is, however, now becoming rather rare: when white
employers are short of workers, they inform the sheriff, who will suddenly
begin to enforce vague laws such as that against vagrancy. Formerly the
employers could rent prisoners from the state j
now they make a deal
with the Negro defendant to pay his fine if he will work a certain number
of days—fewer than the number he would have to spend in jail.^®
But quite apart from such pecuniary motives, the co\u*ts, particularly the
^ See Section 1 of thit chapter.
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