Features of Human Rights- Reagan Sanders

 A historical case that violates the key principles of human rights is the trial of Walter McMillian in 1986. He was a black man charged with murder despite being 11 miles away at the time of the murder. They heard from three white witnesses brought forward by the state that claimed he was guilty while ignoring the dozens of black people that were with him at the time of the murder. The all-white jury came to the verdict of life in prison, which was overridden by the judge to be a death sentence. After Bryan Stevenson took up the case, he found a large quantity of evidence proving that McMillian was innocent. This included proof that the witnesses that the court had heard from had been coerced. Even with all of the new evidence, it took six years before the court ruled that it was an unconstitutional conviction. This case denied McMillian of many of the basic human rights because of his skin color by ignoring all evidence that proved him innocent. The judicial system did not protect his right to a fair trial and they did not support him as an equal. This trial is a direct violation of many of the UDHR articles. Article 7 states that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law,” and article 10 states that “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.” These were violated when McMillian was treated as though he were guilty the second that the white witness said that he was because he was black. He was given a partial jury and an unfair trial.

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