Alton to Advocacy: Pursuing Justice and Mental Wellness in Criminal Law by Katliyn

Alton to Advocacy: Pursuing Justice and Mental Wellness in Criminal Law by Katliyn - December 2023 Scholarship Essay

I was born and raised in Alton, Illinois, a small town whose only claim to fame is "one of the most haunted cities in America." With an unemployment rate of 7.5% compared to the 3.9% national rate, Alton lacks opportunities for career growth. Due to this barrier, I was deprived of chances to pursue my interest in becoming an attorney. Despite this challenge, I proactively sought opportunities by enrolling in my current academic program in legal studies at Sinclair Community College. This program is important to my journey, as it will continue to bolster my knowledge in the legal field and allow me to pursue my ambitions in the criminal justice legal field and encourage positive change through equal justice.

With my major, legal studies, I will ensure that individuals are receiving equal justice, specifically with advocacy for mental health. I will create positive change by ensuring inmates receive mental healthcare and are treated fairly overall. I will passionately speak up about the importance of job services, educational programs, and vocational training. Additionally, I will encourage inmates to receive rehab support upon their release. This will bring down the 4-6% of people that are being incarcerated unjustly in US prisons. As mental health is a leading factor in people committing crimes, I will strive to ensure, if sentenced justly, that mental health services are implemented with jail sentences. Jail is a punishment aimed at penalizing those who are guilty; however, jail lacks the health services that many individuals need to re-enter society safely. This could be in the form of therapists helping those who are facing traumatic problems from childhood or early adult years that may improve the overall life satisfaction of that individual. Furthermore, medication prescribed by psychiatrists can help their overall mental health stability while in prison. In addition to the mental health services, I'd like to implement in the corrections system, I will work to guarantee racism is eliminated from the criminal justice system, as its power is detrimental to equality.

Unequal justice stems from many interconnected factors, one being systemic racism. System Racism has had a huge impact on lives because their race can be the reason why they are sentenced to more years or sentenced unjustly overall. My interest in law was nurtured by witnessing significant injustice within my community. As an African American woman, watching the news and seeing minorities, specifically African Americans, wrongfully prosecuted drove my desire to help rectify justice. Cyntoia Brown's story in particular left an everlasting impression on me. As a survivor of human trafficking, Ms. Brown suffered from inhumane treatment. However, she was unjustly sentenced to 51 years for shooting her human trafficker in self-defense. Hearing Ms. Brown's story made me feel saddened by the continuous oppression my community receives. I am constantly reminded that I could find myself in the same situation at any moment just because of the color of my skin. Furthermore, hearing about the case of Central Park Five only heightened the sorrow I felt for the injustice within the legal system. These situations that have only occurred due to false accusations and a biased legal system have actively shown me why it is crucial for me to work hard to inspire change to prevent these situations from being perpetuated in the future. Thus, it should come as no surprise that I want to combat racial biases that occur in the legal field as an attorney, ensuring that justice is served to minorities and advocating to protect children. In the end, I want to be able to defend minorities who have been wrongly prosecuted and give back to communities as a criminal justice defense attorney.