Donald Marshall Essay

Racism in the criminal justice system has been dominant for decades but has come to the forefront as of late. With several controversies surrounding both the United States and Canada, racism is a topic that will not be disappearing anytime soon. For Donald Marshall Jr. it took 14 years to finally show the country why he was prosecuted for the murder of Sandy Seal. This essay will outline how the Canadian Criminal Justice System failed Marshall as a youth. Real Justice: Convicted for Being a Mi’kmaq: The Story of Donald Marshall written by Bill Swan will show how Marshall was neglected by the justice system at every turn. Furthermore, connecting the treatment Donald Marshall was subjected to with class lectures dealing with subjects such as

This topic relates undoubtedly with Donald Marshall. From the very beginning of the murder investigation Marshall was discriminated against. Moreover, because of the racism shown towards Indigenous people “individually, people might experience feigns of isolation, shame, anger, self-hatred, internalized racism, and distrust of authority” (Oudshoorn, 2015, p.113). In Donald Marshall’s case, this proves to be true. He had never trusted police because of the discrimination he constantly faced, and the one time he believed he could count on them they let him down tremendously. Indigenous people are often convicted of harsher crimes and receiver harsher sentences as apposed to Caucasians, shown in Sittner et al., (2012) study, “Of all youths who are prosecuted in federal courts, 32% are placed in a secure facility; of these 74% are AIAN” (p. 1312). When discussing human dignity in class, this case and Indigenous rights came into thought. How can so many people treat other human beings in such a disrespectful way? Racism is exhibited at nearly every level of the justice system. Oudshoorn (2015) states, “A social movement promoting human dignity is needed” (p.6). Society needs to prevent stigmas from continuing around certain cultures and remember how they would like to be treated. This is such an important topic and should be brought to people’s attention not only in Canada but also around the