November/December W4: Man Sentenced to 6 Months for Eating a Cookie Is Released

Leila Ettachfini

"Man Sentenced to 6 Months for Eating a Cookie Is Released"

"A judge reversed Gregory Fields' six-month sentence on Monday, but his lawyer says similarly disproportionate sentences are nothing unusual."

Vice, December 9, 2019

          The criminal justice system in America has long been a topic of debate, with the civil rights era only pushing it further into the spotlight. Leila Ettachfini takes a look at a more peculiar case from earlier this year, one that involved a man of color and his unjust sentence. While most critics of the racial inequities of the justice system might look towards police brutality or other, clearer examples of a violent or oppressive nature, Ettachfini instead uses a case that involves rather trivial circumstances but a profound message. The aforementioned defendant, a man of color undergoing rehabilitation, was charged with a crime so petty that it is questionable whether or not it should have gone to the courts in the first place. However, the verdict came out to be a prison sentence of six months, which he and his lawyer declared ridiculous, disproportionate, and unjust. While the author fails to give much more context than this, she notes that the judge overturned the ruling, which would suggest that the fault more likely lies with the courts in this situation. Ettachfini primarily highlights the defendant's grievances and his struggle to resist his prosecution, adding to the empathetic strength of her argument. By looking instead to a nonviolent criminal case involving a minority, the author attempts to expose the injustices of the system by revealing a case that points to the universal oppression of certain groups in the American justice system, as the evidence presented suggests that minorities are disadvantaged even in petty cases. However, the lack of specific context and the absence of an acknowledgment of alternative stances or perspectives constitute this piece's primary flaws, as the author fails to consider any speculations regarding a similar case involving different racial groups.

November/December W3: Dell Has Made $15 Million Working with ICE This Year

Leila Ettachfini

"Dell Has Made $15 Million Working with ICE This Year"

"Yet the company says it supports "comprehensive immigration reform.""

Vice, November 22, 2019

          With the ever-popular "humanitarian crisis" at the southern border that remains a subject of heated discussion among left-wing journalists, Ettachfini and several others have recently been uncovering the business partnerships between certain large companies and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the primarily-blamed culprit for the aforementioned crisis. In this case, Ettachfini attacks Dell, using their seemingly-contradictory statements as evidence for their hypocrisy in working with ICE. Using specific sources and pieces of evidence, the author outlines Dell's history with the immigration agency and utilizes a statement from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a kind of credible source. Thus, the audience is able to immediately recognize the major flaw in the author's attempt to establish credibility, as the SPLC is an organization with a controversial history and is still involved in major efforts to polarize social issues in America. Additionally, the author references some of her past articles and those of her peers in order to draw parallels between Dell's actions and those of other large corporations, specifically those dealing in IT and technology. Throughout the piece, the author's tone remains assertive and aggressive, as Ettachfini takes care to thoroughly detail each piece of relevant evidence, especially those that weaken the stability of Dell's defense. The author even includes an update at the end that describes the company's same-day response to the publication of her article. Through these, Ettachfini establishes her aggressive tone and methodical argumentation to her audience in an appealing attempt to gain traction as a pundit.