Hill 1

Lauryn
Mrs. Dorsett
Freshman Seminar Period 4
April 28,2015
Annotated Bibliography
Fortson,Monica.Personal Interview.21 April 2015
This interview was focused on officer Monica Fortson. The interview provided
some information about how the police brutality controversy has affected both her and
her family. She was also asked her about her experiences in the field and her point of
view on the whole issue. She had tons to say about how social media has a huge influence
on the subject. She also pointed out that police officers have an extremely dangerous job
and they are constantly on guard.
This source was a great contribution to my research project. It focused in on how
the media might play a factor in worsening the problem. In the interview officer Monica
mentions that the good things that happen in the field dont make it to the public
because the good things arent considered to be good news. Because the media only
displays the bad things that happen, the public may be persuaded to think that the justice
system is against them. Believing this has lead to broken trust between the justice system
and mainly the minorities of the United States.
Hearing all the things she had to say has definitely changed my view on the topic.
It made me think about how tough their job must be and how they are expected to remain
calm under the most stressful of conditions. As a police officer, everyday you wake up
you go to work fearing for your life. The whole experience made me sit back and ask
myself, What would you do if you were told the suspect could possibly have a weapon,

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they went digging in their back pocket, and they wouldnt freeze when you asked them
to?
Kerby,Sophia.The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in
the United States.13 March 2012. Center for American Progress. 19 April 2015.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-moststartling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/
This article was written by Sophia Kerby, and was published on The Center for
American Progress webpage. She is currently a policy associate for The Brennan Center
of Justice. In this article, she lists ten interesting facts that related to the justice system
and the minorities of the United States. She also takes the time to elaborate on them and
explain what each of the facts meant for our population. She not only gives numbers and
statistics on African Americans, but for Latinos and Hispanics as well.
The statistics in this article were very similar to those of my third source. For
example, this source states that African Americans make up about two-fifths of
americas confined youth and hispanics make up about one-fifth. Because of the
massive inequality of youth between minorities and the majority, the source suggests a
biased legal system. In source three, about 199,000 whites and 730,000 African
Americans were arrested for possession of marijuana. The very distinctive differences of
the two numbers suggest that the justice system may be targeting the minority.
Studying and analyzing this source has change my feelings on the subject just a
tiny bit. When I found my first source it made me think that we as the public were just
misunderstanding the justice system. I thought that we were drawing conclusions and
making assumptions without all of the information, but looking at the numbers and actual

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statistics has made me look in the other direction. It has made me wonder if the justice
system really has ulterior motives when it comes to the minority.
Matthews,Dylan.The Black/White Marijuana Arrest Gap in Nine Charts. 4 June 2013. The
Washington Post. 18 April 2015.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhitemarijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/
This article was written by Dylan Matthews, a journalist who specializes in
statistics in higher education, taxes, poverty,etc. This article was published on The
Washington Post and it contains charts and descriptions and elaboration on what those
charts mean. The article was mainly about how there are gaps in arrests for possession of
marijuana and how many people say they have used or have never used marijuana before.
The author repeatedly reports that more Whites confess to using marijuana, but more
African Americans are arrested. In the article is is obvious that the data is extremely one
sided.
This source was very useful to the research project because it shows how there is
a gap between the number of people arrested and confessions. For example, in the chart
labeled Figure 23 55% of Whites and 59% of African Americans confess that theyve
never used marijuana, but in Figure 10 about 199,000 Whites were arrested and
730,000 African Americans were based on the same charges. African Americans were
arrested more than three times the number of Whites, but more Whites confessed to using
marijuana. If more White people say they have used marijuana, then why are African
Americans being incarcerated on such a higher rate? This definitely shows a biased
justice system.

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This source has changed my perspective almost entirely. This source has swayed
my opinion to thinking that the justice system is targeting the minorities of America. I
think the source reflects on the mindset of many of the United Statess police officers.
Snyder,Howard. Arrests in the United States 1990-2010. U.S. Department of Justice. 1 January
2012. Department of Justice Statistics. 16 April 2015.
http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/aus9010.pdf
This source is a released set of arrest records from the United States Department
of Justice. They range from the year 1990 to 2010. The records are categorized by certain
demographics such as sex, age, and race. The records cover both minor and major
offenses. These records has charts and graphs to show things such as data spikes and
reductions in number through the years. They also have descriptions and elaborations on
the graphs and charts.
This source was useful to the research project in a specific manner. It could be
used to compare numbers from different years. The numbers could show either a spike in
arrests or a decrease. For example, one could compare the 12,653 White and 16,871
African Americans arrested for petty crime to numbers from more recent records. The
difference in the data could show how the justice system has evolved over time.
Analyzing this source has kind of locked in my opinion on the situation. The
numbers and charts has only made me more aware of the controversy. The data indicated
that this has been going on for quite some while. It has also confused me as to why
everyone is acting like this is a recent thing.
Stop and Frisk. Stop- and- Frisk Data. 2012.New York Liberties Union. 20 April 2015.
www.nyclu.org/content/stop-and-frisk-data

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This article was published on the New York Liberties Union website. The articles
data was collected from The New York Police Department Database. The contents of this
source includes bulleted points with lists that elaborate and explain on the bulleted point.
The main arguments of this source is that most of the people that fall subject to the Stop
and Frisk policy were innocent. They were also mainly from minorities.
This source was useful because it gave evidence that the police may definitely be
racially motivated. In 2014 alone New Yorkers were Stopped and Frisked 46,235times
and 84% were African American and Latino, while only 12% were White. 82% of
all those 46,235 times were totally and completely innocent. The fact that the Stop-andFrisk rate was significantly lower for whites suggests racial motivation. It also says that
minorities may have a target on their backs.
This source has definitely changed my way of thinking in a completely different
manner. For this source I wanted to speak for both African Americans and Latinos. In the
news and in social media it seems that the world only cares about African Americans at
the moment. I just wanted to remind everyone that it isnt only happening to one category
of people. We have to recognize that this is a nationwide issue, and that African
Americans arent the only ones going through it. It is definitely happening to latinos as
well as other minorities. Of course Black lives matter, but all lives matter at the end of the
day.