Although many people have conflicting opinions of Kim Kardashian West, I applaud her interest in Criminal Justice Reform and believe that she offers a pleasant example of a celebrity who was able to use their platform in order to bring awareness to such an issue. While Kim K has been consistently present in the media, advocating for the release of inmates that were assigned unfair sentences, she has turned interest towards the idea of Criminal Justice Reform.
My favorite non-profit organization, The Innocence Project, has similarly utilized an online platform to bring awareness to, and advocate for Criminal Justice Reform. While The Innocence Project is already a non-profit legal organization, this website effectively utilizes the online platform as a way to bring awareness to the acts of injustice that have been committed within the Criminal Justice System.
The Innocence Project was founded in 1992, with the goal to "exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice". Ways in which The Innocence Project is able to exonerate the wrongly convicted often has to do with a focus on past DNA evidence. The NPO's legal team will dissect a client's case who was previously convicted based on DNA evidence, and advocate for retesting. This organization often emphasizes the reality of unreliable eye-witness testimonies, in which many of their clients have been wrongly incarcerated as a result of.
In order to bring awareness to this unfortunate glitch in the justice system, The Innocence Project has dedicated a blog to a selection of cases in which they have successfully exonerated their clients from wrongful conviction. By incorporating this type of blog into the website of this NPO, this allows for The Innocence Project to present a more personal account of the lives that have been impacted by wrongful convictions. In sharing these stories, this organization is able to motivate readers and followers to discover what they can do to alleviate the problem.
A particular post that stood out to me was the case of Marvin Anderson. The post shares how Anderson tragically spent 20 years behind bars, as he was finally exonerated and proven innocent in 2002. Marvin Anderson was originally charged with rape, abduction, sodomy and robbery in 1982, where the article states that, "a young woman was raped by a black man whom she said was a total stranger. After she reported the crime, a police officer singled out Anderson as a suspect because the perpetrator had told the victim that he “had a white girl,” and Anderson was the only black man the officer knew who lived with a white woman" (2020). This post then goes into detail to provide a chilling account of the crime, as well as Anderson's struggle to prove his innocence.
This blog implements the rhetorical strategy of pathos, as the content written in this post offers an emotionally telling tale of Anderson's struggles, and also evokes emotion in the reader. For me personally, reading about Anderson's struggles caused me to feel frustration towards the justice system, and also empathy for Anderson as he unfortunately was wrongly placed in an environment for 20 years that will have detrimental effects on his life forever.
Towards the end of this post, the content under the heading "Life After Exoneration" was especially motivating and inspiring for me as the reader. This section states that,
(The Innocence Project, 2007)
A particular post that stood out to me was the case of Marvin Anderson. The post shares how Anderson tragically spent 20 years behind bars, as he was finally exonerated and proven innocent in 2002. Marvin Anderson was originally charged with rape, abduction, sodomy and robbery in 1982, where the article states that, "a young woman was raped by a black man whom she said was a total stranger. After she reported the crime, a police officer singled out Anderson as a suspect because the perpetrator had told the victim that he “had a white girl,” and Anderson was the only black man the officer knew who lived with a white woman" (2020). This post then goes into detail to provide a chilling account of the crime, as well as Anderson's struggle to prove his innocence.
This blog implements the rhetorical strategy of pathos, as the content written in this post offers an emotionally telling tale of Anderson's struggles, and also evokes emotion in the reader. For me personally, reading about Anderson's struggles caused me to feel frustration towards the justice system, and also empathy for Anderson as he unfortunately was wrongly placed in an environment for 20 years that will have detrimental effects on his life forever.
Towards the end of this post, the content under the heading "Life After Exoneration" was especially motivating and inspiring for me as the reader. This section states that,
"From a young age, Anderson’s dream had been to become a firefighter and right before he was convicted, Anderson was in the process of going through the academy to become a professional fireman. Today, he serves as Chief of the Hanover, Virginia Fire Department, where he oversees a team of 30 people. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Innocence Project and has three children, two sons and a daughter."
While The Innocence Project is already composed of a team of dedicated lawyers, by sharing the basis of their work, they are able to engage the general population and bring awareness for the need of Criminal Justice Reform. This touching story of Anderson's life after exoneration especially incorporates strategies of emotional appeal. This particular post motivates the reader to advocate for policy reformation in order to ensure that others don't have to share similar experiences to Anderson's; to live in a world where it is easier to be convicted of a crime you did not commit, rather than being able to get a job that allows you to serve and save the lives of the public is mortifying.
This blog is effective in raising awareness to Criminal Justice Reform, and sharing stories like Anderson's allow the reader to understand that it is possible for change to happen. The success of these clients shows that mistakes can be made within the Criminal Justice System, but they can also be undone. If they share the stories of the lives that have been affected by this particular issue, they can persuade their audience to follow in their footsteps and fight for these individuals as well.
On a final note, each post written for these cases includes the same link to share the story at the bottom of the screen as depicted below.
By including this, the writer offers an easy way for the reader to get involved. By just merely sharing this link to a social media account, it can be inferred that we have the ability to implement change.
Whether the audience has a degree in law or is just your average Joe, these stories leave a lasting impact on the reader, and do have the ability to motivate an audience to become passionate about a particular social issue. By engaging in "sharing" the story, we can change the world.
As Gil Scott-Heron once sang, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", may we recognize that you have to change your mind before you can change the world. While technology may not be the "true" revolution, it has the ability to spark the change that begins the real one.
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