T LLCE

1. The Hold Out – Norman Rockwell
   
   

The document is a painting made by Norman Rockwell and published in 1959. It appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. (An American magazine).

In this painting, Norman Rockwell decided to deal with / tackle the lack of diversity in trials by jury.

The scene takes place in a jury room. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive. (red colour = symbol of danger, warning, emergency, blood)

The room is filled with smoke and tension = they can't breathe.

The floor and the table are messy = they must have been deliberating for a long time.

Present perfect be + ing = lien passé présent

accent mis sur l'action en cours de déroulement.

For (= depuis) + durée

Since (= depuis) + point de départ.

They must decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent.

They probably disagree. The woman is crossed-armed and surrounded by men who are trying to make her change her mind.

They are pushy.

The defendant could be sentenced for life or executed = death penalty.

She is determined ( // her straight back)

Conclusion :

Norman Rockwell decided to make this painting to criticize the jury system in the USA.

The painting aims at denoucing gender and racial inequality in the jury composition.

aim at + V-ing

Doc 2 : What happened to trial by Jury ?

Trial by jury dates back to Socrates' time. Some early societies decided that some disputes should be heard by a group of citizens to be settled.

Trial by jury became a fundamental feature of English society some centuries later. America kept the system after independence. 1776

It enables to :

·      check the government

·      involve people in decision-making

·      resolve monetary disputes

·      determine whether a defendant is guilty or not.

Only 4 % of criminal cases are judged by juries. Defendants are often asked to plead guilty before so that they get a shorter sentence. = pre-bargaining.

Trials by jury are costly, time-consuming and jurors can make mistakes or be prejudiced.

But they also have advantages : when they are properly selected : they are representative of society and are less biased than legislators or judges who seek re-election or promotion.

Trial by jury enables to check the power of all three branches of the government.

Doc 3 : Composition of a jury Video

The 6th amendment of the US Constitution states that any person accused of a crime punishable by law has a constitutional right to a trial by jury.

Jury service is a civic duty. Juries listen to testimonies, review evidence and render a decision.

You must be 18 at least and an American citizen.

Jurors who examine the facts and render a guilty or not guilty verdict.

Before a jury is selected the court and counsel will question potential jurors to ensure an impartial jury as required by the Constitution this preliminary examination is known as “Voir Dire”. If a juror is biased, counsel can ask the judge to dismiss that person.

Peremptory challenges : in some criminal cases, this allows counsel to excuse a limited number of potential jurors without stating cause if the attorney believes the juror will not serve the best interest of their client but a juror cannot be excused on race of sex.

Throughout the trial, proper juror conduct is essential in order to be fair on all sides = jurors must not discuss the case and keep away from media including social media.

a hung jury = a jury that cannot come to a decision . → not frequent

If a jury is deadlocked and cannot reach the verdict, the judge will declare a miss trial and a new trial may take place.

Conclusion : jury duty is a civic responsibility that connects all of us and it is one of the very important aspects of our democracy.

Question 3 :

The defendant’s lawyer argues that Jefferson only took the money because he was poor and stupid and that he was panic-stricken

He compares him to a fool who has no intelligence. (repetition / anaphora to highlight his lack of intelligence)

He argues that he is not a man and compares him to an animal (monkey) whose ancestors come from “the deepest jungle”.

He even uses the word ‘hog’ l. 53. → more and more derogatory.

The dehumanization / reification is emphasized / reinforced /stressed by the use of the word “thing” which is repeated 4 times.

By dehumanizing Jefferson, the lawyer appeals to the jury’s deep-rooted racism and asks them to spare his life because he was not responsible of his actions.

Question 4 : cf l. 63

disbelief + hopelessness / despair / resignation

He refused to believe the verdict / could not believe that he would be executed for a crime he did not commit.

“Looking down” because he knows he has no prospect. He knows that whatever he would say, nothing would change.

Defeated / hopeless = desperate

Question 7 : conclusion

Thanks to this extract we understand that in the 1940’s, a black defendant was very likely to be condemned even if he was innocent of all charges because the American judiciary system did not enable black people to be jurors. Consequently, black people were only judged by white people who could be extremely prejudiced against them.

Blacks were not judged by their peers.

The justice system was dysfunctionnal.

How was the racial issue used to alter the course of justice in that case?

The OJ Simpson’s case has often been called “the trial of the century” and it has fascinated people all over the world. It shows that American society is extremely divided, especially as regards the race issue. Racial prejudice has been used to alter the course of justice by influencing a justice decision. This case shows that money also played an important part since O J Simpson was wealthy enough to afford a whole team of excellent lawyers who enabled him not to be sentenced whereas a poor working-class black man was more likely to be heavily condemned.

Rodney King was arrested by the L A police for driving while intoxicated in 1991. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while an amateur cameraman filmed the scene. it was the first “viral” video of police brutality against an African American man. The video shows him unarmed on the ground, being kicked and hit repeatedly by the officers.

The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were acquitted thanks to a predominantly white jury, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots. 

60 people killed, hundreds were injured, buildings and stores destroyed

sparked / triggered outrage

outpouring of community anger

Why was it pivotal ? because you can't deny what you see : that's why Dereck Chauvin (George Floyd's murderer) could not deny he had kneeled on his neck.

However very little change = even with evidence very few white policemen are convicted of murder.

The systemic racism in the police force has not shifted.

This document is the movie poster of 12 angry men released in 1957.

Ø    Title & text

Adjective « angry » = who are they angry with? with each other / with one another

The defendant may be sentenced to death (USA) = an important decision to be taken.

“Death is on their minds”= They may send someone to death and it will be on their minds forever

“it explodes like 12 sticks of dynamite” = anger of the men = explosive / tensed atmosphere

the used fonts reflect this explosive atmosphere : shaky letters + figure 12 = sketched by an angry hand.

Ø Knife

- central element of the poster = the crime weapon

- Wavy / sinuous blade of the dagger. // hesitation of the jurors

Ø Background

Bright yellow background which attracts the eye.

An ambivalent colour

This colour symbolizes cowardice and duplicity (to turn yellow)

The colour of light, of God

Ø Characters

Top part of the picture: the Juror played by Henry Fonda is the only character who stands out contrary to the others who are sitting.

Top: 11 men sitting at a table and 1 man standing behind them

cf The Last Supper A late 15th century painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The man seems to have the upper hand, to be more important or to be against all the others

·        Idea of justice / God

The other jurors look angry (clenched fist) / Furious, indignant, outraged

Symbolism

the scales of justice: on the left side, we can read “life is in their hands” and, on the right side, “death is on their minds”.

The knife introduces the idea of separation / division / being torn between 2 feelings.

The crime weapon, sword of Damocles (= thing or situation which causes a prolonged state of impending doom or misfortune), incarnation of justice?

A knife = a sharp cutting object as justice is supposed to be. Usually justice is depicted with a sword.

Shape of the blade // sinous path leading to the truth à difficult to make one’s mind

CONCLUSION:

We have 2 points of view / 2 conceptions of justice à Men are small in the face of justice (transcendent justice)

à human justice: leads to debates.

12 Angry men

The scene opens with a low angle shot of a criminal court. It shows that justice is powerful. The facade of the building and the pillars are impressive.

"The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government. " George Washington. = Motto written on the building.

The case :

The defendant is 18 and he is accused of murder in the 1st degree / murder with premeditation. This is the most serious crime and death penalty is mandatory if he is declared guilty.

His life is at stake.

The judge is bored / exhausted / fed up.  He doesn't care.

The jury 's task is to separate the facts from fancy and reach an unanimous decision. If there is reasonable doubt : a not guilty verdict.

It 's a very hot day : everybody is sweating.  dog days. The air-con  (the fan) is not working. 

It's difficult to breathe → oppressive / claustrophobic atmosphere. The windows are difficult to open.

The jurors are all tired.  They can't leave until they reach a unanimous verdict. All of them don't take things seriously.

One of them is yawning = he is fed up with the trial. 

One is blowing his nose all the time because he has a cold.

(blow, blew, blown)

Information about the case:

Defendant

- Boy is 18 – he stabbed his father 4 inches into the chest (10 cm)

- Has been abused all his life long/ beaten by his father

-  Was born in a slum

- Lost his mother when he was 9, spent a year and a half in an orphanage while his father was in jail for forgery.  = not a happy childhood

Alibi :

The defendant pretended he was at the movies but he can’t remember the title of the film or the actors who played in it.

Criminal record :

At 10 went to children court for throwing a rock at a teacher.

At 15 in reform school, he stole a car

Arrested for mugging and knife-fighting twice. He is handy with a knife.