I recently watched the movie Brian Banks, this is a true story about a high school football player who had it all going for him until a terrible false acquisition was made against him. He was an All American and planned on going all the way to the NFL. Brian Banks gets everything taken away from him when he was blamed for a crime that he was 100% not guilty of committing. Banks was accused of raping a fellow classmate in high school, how ever there was no true evidence found ad the film shows the true story of what actually happened. The couple had shared a kiss under the stair well and when Brian didn’t want to get caught by a teacher coming their way he ran back to class. The young girl took this as he was rejecting and leaving her, so she twisted it into a story blown way out of proportion. The young teenage boy ends up being sentenced to prison after the essentially rigged Justice System goes against him. He was a young black male who did not have the court on his side, they didn’t care if he was innocent and didn’t care that they had no proof, they listened to the female who was a pathological liar and were okay in doing so knowing they were wrong. Banks was in prison for 10 years and his whole future of college football and the NFL was ruined. After teaming up with an agent in the Innocence project committee Banks and the committee prove that Brian was 100% innocent all of these years and that the crime he was accused of was one big lie. This represent systematic injustice because of how the court and outsiders viewed Brian Banks, they saw a young black male accused of rape and didn’t even think twice about wanting to hear his side of the story. He didn’t get the chance to speak his truth and his point of view until fighting to do so and work for evidence on his own, even after this he still struggled to get people to believe in his innocence. Brain Banks was stripped of all his future dreams because of the justice system’s biased and unequal views. He has to work for years to gain his football talents back and finally earn to step on the NFL field.
https://apnews.com/article/efb8ee00b6e941af9a3fa549fb8671b5
I really like the topic you chose. It has become more common now a days for people to be accused of crimes they did not commit. This is the first time I have heard about Brian Bank’s story and I feel really bad for him. I think it is terrible that the Criminal Justice system still has issues with the African American community. Brian was sent to prison under false accusations and because of a bias court system. This is so wrong.
This is a prime example of systemic injustice. I think with a case like Brian Banks’, the racial disparities at play can often go unnoticed. I agree that the judicial system was biased against him and let their own implicit biases affect their decisions.
As a sports industry major I really like this topic. Brian Banks’ case isn’t the only story like this sadly as in the past there was a player from Baylor with a bright future ahead of him which was derailed by a false accusation. In cases like this I do believe the court system does tend to not view evidence with an open mind as if the defendant is guilty and has to prove his innocence rather than innocent until proven guilty. Great work!