Unity Week event draws low attendance

"Is justice color blind?" This is a question that has been hotly debated in the national arena, ever since Los Angeles police officers were videotaped beating black motorist Rodney King in 1992. But the issue failed to attract a crowd of more than 25 people in the first forum sponsored by the United Minorities Council for Unity Week. Unity Week was created last year with the purpose of exploring these types of issues, UMC President and College senior Onyx Finney said. Second-year Law student Joseph Drayton said the justice system is based upon the individual discretion of police officers and prosecutors. This can be problematic at times, he added. "Law officers, prosecutors and judges all use their personal discretion in their work," Drayton said. "Discretion is very powerful and important. It can be used and abused." The justice system can only be as color blind as the individuals who uphold it, Drayton added. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Ida Chen spoke about her experiences as an Asian American in the justice system and how she works to make the system more user-friendly to citizens. As a judge, she has ordered the translation of court documents into various languages with the legal jargon removed from them. She has overseen the creation of resource manuals for lawyers and their clients. "You can't get equal access to justice if you can't understand the proceedings or if you don't have equal access to information," Chen said. "It has always been my experience that it is really individuals who change the system. Where you can get to the individual policy makers and influence them to change situations, you can get justice." Despite the low turnout, Greenfield Intercultural Center Director Larry Burnley said the event went well. "The judge demonstrated how individuals within the justice system can respond in sensitive ways to people of color and people in the lower economic bracket," Burnley added. Burnley could not pinpoint why attendance was so poor. "We'll have to look into that," he added. College senior Meera Bajwa, program coordinator for the UMC, said she was pleased with the outcome of the event. "The use of discretion and the experiences minorities face in the courtroom are important issues, especially here at the University where students have an idea that University Police are not always fair," Bajwa said. College junior Brennan Maier was impressed with the forum and the speakers. "I thought it was excellent," he said. "They both managed to fuse intellectual commitment with social responsibility."