Major Flaws of Justice System of America Depicted in The Last Line of Defense - Essay Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay ---- on the article “The Last Line of Defense” Investigative journalist, Raymond Bonner, in his rhetorical article, “The Last Line of Defense”, censures the criminal justice system. His goal is to expose the flaws in the criminal justice system that often results in the execution of innocent victims. He talks about the various factors that bring into question the acceptability and effectiveness of capital punishment. He adopts a one-sided tone and strongly opinionated approach to stimulate thinking process amongst the Americans readers. His pragmatic approach and citation of real life cases appeal to the reader’s logic[Bon12]. In his article, “The Last Line of Defense” in The Atlantic, journalist, Raymond Bonner advocates the abolishment of death penalty in the criminal justice system of America; however, an overemphasis on the shortcomings of the system, one-sided debate, and biased tone deprive the reader from gaining comprehensive knowledge on the issue. He delineates how numerous underlying arbitrary elements influence criminal proceedings. Therefore, capital punishment can prove prejudicial to the accused. He appeals to the reader’s logic. He quotes two real life criminal cases in detail to demonstrate how the accused were charged guilty despite evidence pointing to the contrary. For this reason, the author advocates the abolishment of capital regime as it can lead to the execution of innocent persons. Furthermore, this renders death penalty unconstitutional and unethical. As evident, the use of logos through referring to real life cases assists the reader in deriving rational conclusions on the issue of death penalty. Similarly, he establishes ethos and credibility by providing comprehensive and detailed account of the cases. Persuasive arguments are based on all three techniques as evidenced in this article. Bonner begins the article by expressing concurrence with Diana Holt, an opponent of the death penalty. From the very start, he expresses his disapproval of the capital regime by describing Diana Holt as a “crusader”. He goes on to portray her struggle against death penalty as “heroic, long odds battle”. He deliberately depicts Diana Holt as a national hero in order to convince the readers of the rightfulness of his belief. This use of ethos is essential in building credibility and trustworthiness. Thus, the use of ethos in the title sentence unconsciously leads the readers to believe that death penalty is undoubtedly unjust. In the opening paragraph, Bonner adopts a sentimental tone and employs pathos to stir emotions amongst the readers by tactfully emphasizing how a criminal when accused is considered guilty without actual proof of his guilt. He uses pathos to persuade the audience by appealing to their emotions and sends them on a guilt trip. He states that notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding the conviction, the “presumption of innocence disappears” and even new evidence “does not necessarily entitle a defendant, not even one on death row, to a new trial”. In this manner, he establishes logos by substantiating his claim in order to show how an accused is deemed as guilty without actually being proven guilty. In addition, he uses an emotional tone in order to appeal to similar experiences and feelings amongst the readers as all of us have been subject to biased judgements in life. Thus, the writer achieves ethos. This paragraph is a classic example of how the combination of pathos, logos, and ethos helps in presenting an effective argument. He goes on to accentuate his initial reflection of Diana Holt. He paints her as a selfless humanitarian battling to save the lives of the prisoners who have been given the death verdict, working for a “non-profit” organization. Bonner rouses sympathy and admiration for Holt by stating that she “overcame great hardships in her own life” and that she “worked indefatigably to save the lives of the condemned”. He consistently extols Holt’s abilities and compassionate nature in order to win the hearts of the readers. Thus, he manipulates them into thinking of Holt as the saviour of “the condemned”. The use of pathos through evocative metaphors and phrases help in invoking pity and admiration. Moreover, this above-stated phrases help in depicting Holt as a hero so her trustworthiness is established. Consequently, the use of pathos and ethos makes her struggle for the abolishment of the death penalty appears as just and rational. Finally, in the third paragraph, Bonner starts quoting facts instead of using words and tone laden with emotion. However, by this point he has tactfully established his credibility, hence ethos. Bonner is well aware that only after developing ethos, he will be able to convince the audience of the logos and pathos in his writing. He gives a thorough account of the offenders and the background of the crime in the succeeding paragraphs. His tone is unbiased as he portrays the precise events and activities of those involved: “alcohol, lots of it, and a variety of drugs” and “hiding Swanson’s body under a mattress”. This assists readers’ to gain a comprehensive knowledge surrounding the crime and forming an objective perspective. Additionally, this strategy aids the author to appear objective and thus credible. Ethos plays an imperative role to draw the reader’s attention by making him believe that the reader is neutral and objective. However, from paragraph ten onwards, Bonner returns to Diana Holt and outlines the misfortunes and adversities she encountered in life that drove her towards law. He states that Holt’s stepfather “abused her sexually”, “mocked her ambitions”, “gave her drugs” etc. She did not find marital bliss either as she “got married, got divorced, got pregnant, and then got married again” and her Vietnamese husband “tried to kill” her. Nevertheless, this proved to be a defining moment in Holt’s life as she worked endlessly to materialize her childhood dream of becoming a lawyer. Bonner deliberately refers to Holt’s adversities, as a part of invoking pathos. This is because mentioning her personal life helps readers to empathise as many would have undergone similar experiences. Quoting real life incidents that carry emotional significance also then help Bonner to accomplish ethos. To sum up, this article revolves more around Diana Holt’s life, which is irrelevant and immaterial to the topic under consideration. Bonner has displayed excessive use of pathos as opposed to logos. Probably, the author uses this rhetorical strategy in order to evoke empathy for Holt and to divert the attention of readers from the real debate. From paragraph fourteen onwards, Bonner quotes another case involving death penalty that proved to be a milestone in Holt’s career. However, unlike the first illustration, Bonner adopts a partial tone in delineating the background, evidences, proceedings, and verdicts related to the Elmore case as he quotes “prosecution didn’t introduce the hair into evidence” and “state’s earlier finding a fraud”. The citation of a factual case appeals to logic. The use of logos persuades the readership on rational grounds. Moreover, he writes in paragraph fifteen that “a legendary figure in South Carolina” gave directives for the arrest of Elmore because a “Negroid hair” was found on the victim’s abdomen. This serves as a practical instance of how undue influence and racial segregation can play a detrimental rule in court proceedings ensuing in death verdict. Bonner probably cites this in order to re-emphasize his initial stance of inherent limitations of human judgement. Moving on, Bonner points out the shortcomings of the criminal justice system in paragraph eighteen. Luck was on Holt’s side as she managed to obtain a written confession of Hess. This was the second case in which she found “exonerating evidence” that could result in the acquittal of the defendants. Unfortunately, the “state was not happy” unlike Holt on this discovery. It was left with only two options, either to confront “a potentially embarrassing hearing” or “attack her reputation”. The state preferred the second option and consequently attacked and tarnished Holt’s reputation. Through such rich phrases, Bonner presents a vivid imagery to his readers. This helps in accomplishing pathos as sympathy is aroused amongst readers. Furthermore, this authentic reflection of the state’s behaviour towards Holt serves the author’s purpose of an eye-opener for the public. The logical sequences of events compel people to contemplate over the reliability of court verdicts and whether taking an innocent life in the name of justice is just? Overall, this paragraph helped in presenting an effective argument using logos and pathos. As the article progresses, Bonner provides an in depth description of the devious strategy used by Donald Zelenka to bring into question the reliability of Hess’s confession in paragraph twenty-five. He realized that Hess would be reluctant to participate if she was explained the gravity of the “criminal charges she could face for admitting to having taken part in Smalls murder”. Thereby, the State would be compelled to rely on her written confession of which Holt was a witness. Zelenka could then “expose her (Holt) as a convicted felon, in an effort to undermine her testimony”. Bonner points out that this strategy was conceived by “the head of the capital-cases section in the attorney general’s office”. Bonner employs this rhetorical strategy to question the ethos of Zelenka. In addition, quoting the actual consequences faces by Holt appeals to the reader’s logic and emotions. He triggers the readers to think if they can trust their lives to government officials, apparently employed to oversee justice. Furthermore, it demonstrates real life obstacles that are faced when people attempt to change current systems. All three elements of effective persuasion can be witnessed in this paragraph; thus, this plays an integral part in the overall article. The author’s contempt for such sly strategies is evidenced in paragraph twenty-seven. The opening sentence of the paragraph declares that “the strategy failed”. He quotes Judge Keesley’s reaction perhaps to justify his own by stating that the judge was “visibly disgusted with the state’s behaviour”. Nonetheless, these remarks only served as “small and temporary victory” and Holt’s ordeal was not over yet “because the South Carolina Supreme Court later went on to reject Johnson’s appeal”. This was in spite of Hess’s confession duly signed and witnessed that the State dismissed on the ground that “We do not believe it is probable”. From the diction and evocative phrases, it can be concluded that the author heavily used pathos in this paragraph. He stresses these facts in order to point that although Holt may have been saved from personal attacks but the Court failed to fulfil its chief function, which is to serve justice. The appeal to the sentiments of the readers triggers a subconscious reaction in them and wins support for the author. The verdict seemed illogical because if the confession of a murderer does not constitute evidence, then what else does? This irrationality poses threatening questions regarding the justice system in the minds of readers. Bonner incorporates various elements outlined by Holt in paragraph thirty-eight that undermine the reliability of court sentences. This strengthens his argument by signifying that the “objection to the death penalty isn’t so much moral as it is practical”. On one hand, by drawing their attention towards the practicality, he establishes authority and ethos. On the other, the reasonableness of his claim sounds logical. Therefore, He successfully manages to persuade readers for the abolishment of capital punishment. He provides another practical illustration of such elements that hinder the functions of the justice system in paragraph. He cited the incident where Governor, George Ryan reversed the death verdicts in the state of Illinois although he was amongst the legislators who had previously voted in favour of the death penalty. However, his perspective changed after bearing in mind “the systematic failures of our capital-punishment system”. Bonner stresses the lack of ethos amongst politician and the systematic failures to shed light on the shortcomings of the capital regime. The concurrence of the Governor backs up this argument by demonstrating that more people now believe the logic behind abolishment of death penalty. He concludes the article by using pathos to stir emotions amongst readers in the second last paragraph. He refers to the abolishment of death penalty in various regions such as “New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York”. He quotes the precise speech of the Governor of Oregon, John Kitzhaber to reiterate his own opinion by accentuating that death penalties do not make societies “safer” or “noble” and explicitly declares it “morally wrong”. By quoting this emotive and heart-touching speech, he triumphantly rouses compassion and thoughtfulness amongst the readers. However, overall the article lacks objectivity, neutrality, and impartiality because it solely revolves around one-sided stance, and is based more on fervent belief than facts. Although, death penalty is a crucial issue but the author should have still avoided overreliance on pathos and should have instead concentrated on logos, which is the core of an argument. Works Cited Bon12: , (Bonner), Read More