Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
Lakeith Smith, a 15-year-old in Alabama, was sentenced to over 50 years for involvement in a break-in where his friend was killed by the police. Despite no evidence linking him to the murder, he was charged with felony murder and other crimes. His sentence has been reduced to 30 years, but his lawyers argue this is still unjust. The case highlights the disproportionate impact on young black males in the criminal justice system. A campaign called Justice for Lakeith Smith seeks support to bring attention to his case. Well, welcome again to this episode of the Diary of a Lawyer, and today I want to talk about a case in the United States in the southern state of Alabama regarding a young man, then 15 years old, Lakeith Smith. Lakeith Smith was sentenced to over 50 years for being involved in a break-in into unoccupied homes at the time, and when the police showed up, it was stated that his friend was killed and he was subsequently charged with Alabama law, a felony murder law, which led to him being sentenced for those many years, although based on the facts of the case, it would appear he didn't do anything that was in no way connected with the actual murder of his friend, and that it is the police that killed his friend and not a young man. So these are just the quick facts of the case, that's the summary of the case. So according to the campaign group Justice for Lakeith Smith.com, there was a break-in into unoccupied homes in 2015, February 2015, a 16-year-old friend of Lakeith Smith, Adonte Washington was killed by the police, Lakeith was not tried as a juvenile, despite being 15 at the time, he was also charged with other crimes such as theft, burglary and felony murder. He was held in prison and he was later sentenced for all of those alleged crimes, including a felony murder. He was sentenced for 15 years of burglary, 10 years for each of the charges, and 30 years for the felony murder, despite being a non-violent 16-year-old with no prior criminal history according to the justice campaign. Since then, the last few days ago, this has been reduced to 30 years, but his lawyers claim on the campaign team that today doesn't feel like justice, and Justice Judge Sybil Reynolds, who is involved in the case, refused to release a request to release a 15-year-old, I think now 24 years old, Lakeith Smith. So this is a disturbing case of yet another black boy in the history of the American justice team sentenced for crime, felony murder that he did not actually commit because there's no evidence I have seen that says that he was in any way responsible for the death of his friend, but I guess that brings a wider concern about the whole felony murder charges. And the sentencing feels hugely disproportionate. It does not also take into account his legal responsibility for the alleged felony murder, and it basically takes away any point of correction for the 15-year-old in a non-violent crime. It is suddenly, according to the campaign, and from prima facie look at it, is a miscarriage of justice, and the campaign group Justice for Lakeith Smith calls for people to sign a petition, share widely, and comment or write in so that justice is done for this young man. I think we all know the movie of Emmett, slightly similar but not as, in this case, it's a death of a 16-year-old by the police, but in another case here, it's a disproportionate sentence of over 50 years for a 15-year-old who did not, was not involved in any violence at all. So it's yet another example, as many have commented on social media, of the disproportionate detrimental impact on the lives of particular young black males in America within the criminal justice system. So that's it in a nutshell about the case of Lakeith Smith. You can go to their Google page, their campaign page, Justice for Lakeith Smith on Twitter, on YouTube and all other social media. Add your voice so that this young man faces, experiences what actual justice looks like. Thank you. And that's in a nutshell. This is it for today on this episode of the Diary of a Lawyer. I will speak again soon. Thank you. Bye.
