Sterling K. Brown Quotes

As a freshman at Stanford University - a young black man - when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, it was a joyful moment. I was happy, absolutely. It wasn't necessarily a matter of whether he was guilty or innocent, per se, it was a matter of finally seeing someone who looked like me have the justice system work in their favor.

I represented many of these kids as they become young adults in the criminal justice system when I was a public defender. One way of reaching out is by the mind of experimentation.

I have never understood the liberal assumption that if there were justice in the world, there would be fewer rather than more prisoners.

Why is it that no African in the history of this country has ever had the honor of being tried by his own kith and kin, by his own flesh and blood?

One third of African American males are destined to be in prison sometime in their lifetime.

We need to notice and be aware of the injustices embedded in our criminal system.

In this country, we force millions of people - who are largely black and brown - into a permanent second-class status simply because they once committed a crime.

I would hate for people to think that 'Strong Island' is just about a family's grief. It is about a family's grief, yes, but it is also an interrogation of our criminal justice system.

When you're poor and black in America, you stand a greater chance of going to prison for something you didn't do.

The criminal justice system in the United States is designed to do two things really well: to railroad black and brown bodies into prison, and to keep police officers out of it.

If you're white and you're rich in the USA, if you get busted for drugs, you get a good attorney, and you in all likelihood serve no time. But if you're poor, black, Hispanic, or poor and white for that matter, you can get put in jail.

The Bureau of Justice reports that one in three black male babies born this century will go to jail or prison - that is an absolutely astonishing statistic. And it ought to be terrorizing to not just to people of color, but to all of us.

The black situation has changed. They finally realized they're Americans.

It is apparent, if you go back through our history, that the grand juries of the criminal justice system do not value black lives.

I think most defense attorneys know, to some extent, their clients are guilty.

Not a problem kid or anything like that so when you're in the legal system like that, it's always hard on a person for the first time to go through some things like that.

The vast majority of A.D.A.s put everything on the line to make sure justice is served. That's what I love about prosecutors and the New York police.

I believe in the law. I think we have a great system of justice. But I do think that system of justice has been corrupted by racism and classism. I think it's difficult for 'poor people' - poor white people, brown people - to be treated fairly before the law in the same way that upper-class people are.

What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party.

I am a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. I make that statement proudly in the full knowledge that, as a Black person and as a female person, I do not have a chance of actually gaining that office in this election year.

Our criminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequality.

To the average white man, a courthouse even in Mississippi is a place where justice is dispensed. To me, the black man, it is a place where justice is dispensed with.

People who are wealthy tend to be treated much more fairly in our criminal justice system.

Legal aid gets a bad press. Some rail against handing taxpayers' money to criminals; others attack fat cat lawyers, while some argue that we spend far more on legal aid than other countries. But let's get some facts straight: saying that legal aid is just about criminals is wrong - most goes to people before any decision is taken on their guilt.

The Supreme Court has made it nearly impossible to prove race discrimination in the criminal justice system.