Question

11th cycle 2 i got myself arrested...
1 ten years ago, when i started my career as an assistant district attorney in the roxbury neighborhood of boston, i viewed the american criminal justice system as a vital institution that protected society from dangerous people. i once prosecuted a man for brutally attacking his wife with a flashlight, and another for sexually assaulting a waitress at a nightclub. i believed in the system for good reason.
2 but in between the important cases, i found myself spending most of my time prosecuting people of color for things we white kids did with impunity growing up in the suburbs. as our office handed down arrest records and probation terms for riding dirt bikes in the street, cutting through a neighbor’s yard, hosting loud parties, fighting, or smoking weed — shenanigans that had rarely earned my own classmates anything more than raised eyebrows and scoldings — i often wondered if there was a side of the justice system that we never saw in the suburbs. last year, i got myself arrested in new york city and found out.
3 on april 29, 2012, i put on a suit and tie and took the no. 3 subway line to the junius avenue stop in the brooklyn neighborhood of brownsville. at the time, the blocks around this stop were a well - known battleground in the stop - and - frisk wars: police had stopped 14,000 residents 52,000 times in four years. i figured this frequency would... (scroll down to see more)

1. the following question has two parts. first answer part a. then, answer part b.

part a: which statement best expresses the central idea of the text?
a. the first step in removing the corruption in the justice system is to expose it to the public.
b. people are charged more severely when they make vocal judgments about law enforcement and the justice system.
c. ensuring that all people have equal access to justice begins with law enforcement remaining unbiased in their policing.
d. the justice system does not provide equally or appropriately fair punishments and disproportionately mistreats people of color

Explanation:

To determine the central idea, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The text doesn't focus on exposing corruption as the first step; it's about unequal treatment, not corruption exposure. Eliminate A.
• Option B: The text has no mention of people being charged more for vocal judgments about law enforcement. Eliminate B.
• Option C: The text's main point isn't about law enforcement remaining unbiased as the start of equal access, but about the justice system's unequal treatment of people of color. Eliminate C.
• Option D: The author describes prosecuting people of color for minor offenses that white kids got away with, showing the justice system's unequal and unfair treatment, especially toward people of color. This matches the text's central idea.

Answer:

D. The justice system does not provide equally or appropriately fair punishments and disproportionately mistreats people of color