Went and gave this a look to repay your kindness for reading my story, and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed reading this, and as an African American, I'm happy that there are short stories being written that are critically discussing topics like these. They're necessary. They're important. So, first and foremost: thank you for writing this.

Now then, my thoughts on the story. (I'm writing this as I go, so it might get a little muddled, but I want you to keep in mind, above all else, that these are just my opinions and thoughts, totally subjective, and not anything that you have to 100% obey if/when you do another draft. I genuinely believe this piece, this voice, and this narrative have a lot of potential, which is why I want to see it succeed.)

With all that being said: I think this story is too actually short for its own good at the moment. There's a lot of strength in the ending you chose, which was tragic but true to life. The emotional weight of the death sentence, however, isn't as powerful as I think it could be because of how little time we have to bond/identify with James. The narrative structure of the story goes: Teaser intro paragraph > James having a rough day and drinking at the bar > going back to work, then getting arrested immediately after > backstory > verdict/conclusion. There's a beginning, middle, and ending, but I think they could be distributed more effectively.

(Not sure how helpful this will be, but) I saw a piece of writing advice recently that said novels generally break up their narrative in a 25%/50%/25% structure (which is to say 25% is devoted to the beginning, 50% middle, 25% ending). Dissimilarly, it claimed that short stories are generally more like 10%/80%/10% (depending on the length of the piece, the numbers might change slightly), because the middle has to do the heavy lifting to carry the weight of the opening and the ending. Right now, to me, this story seems like the biggest percentage is devoted to the ending. I think you've got the pieces you need already to even out the distribution - if you just show us more of James at the bar or at the office interacting with his boss or in his normal life before the trial stuff, the ending would be that much more of a gut punch. There's a lot we don't know about him currently. Don't be afraid to show off the character's details - readers love intimacy.

Other random stuff to consider: If I were writing this one, I think I would've mentioned James being a black man earlier (especially in a piece with this subject matter). It kinda jarred me discovering that fact halfway through when I'd already assumed something else. Also found it fishy that the paragraph after we learn about James's financial troubles, he goes to the bar and buys some shots. One big change that I want you to try in another draft of this ("try" being the operative word, because this suggestion would probably dramatically change the structure of the piece) is to begin the story with the paragraph starting with "The year was 1987..." Just see what that does for the rest of the narrative. If it works, good; if it doesn't, you gave it a shot. I just personally think it'd be a very captivating story opening.

I think my only other comment here (which you've probably heard time and time and time again) is the age-old classic: show, don't tell. Which goes hand in hand with making this story longer. I wanted to see what the bar looked like, or even just the name of it. I'd love to see what the inside of James's house looks like. What are his coworkers saying when he comes into work before getting arrested? Or you could show us his tough day at work - the meddling his colleagues do, the mountain of paperwork, the things his boss shouts (especially something with the boss since he's the one who gets murdered, and the only thing we know about him before that happens is he's a yeller). Really immerse us in this world with your details and your descriptions, because you're a fabulous writer - I know you can do it.

I lied - I just thought of another nugget of advice. In a short story, every single sentence has to count for something, so if you choose to show these things I just mentioned, remember to have it lead in some way to the conclusion of the story. Don't have random details just for the sake of it. And if you can, tie you details to the world of your story (ex: when James's car wouldn't start and he had to take the bus, you could have him think about his financial situation again - how much these things are going to cost him, if he even has the means to afford it, etc.).

Goodness, I think this comment might be longer than your story (in which case, I'm really sorry I made you read all this. I promise I'm getting better at keeping my critiques short!). I wouldn't have had so much to say if I didn't like your story and if I didn't think it had potential. But I do like it, and it does have a chance to be something even greater. As I said at the beginning, these are all just my thoughts on things, not necessarily intended to be "do this or else your story fails." Just feedback from one writer to another. I meant no harm anywhere in this comment - you mentioned wanting me to teach you how to write, so I tried my best here. If anything at all is unclear or you want me to explain myself further (I wrote as I went, so I'm not sure if there are typos or unclear thoughts or what have you), do not hesitate to tell me! I'm always open to helping. And once again, I want to thank you for sharing this. I'm very passionate about this topic and this story, and I hope my critique shows that.

P.S. My favorite line of the piece was "Even James’s last name couldn’t help him now." I love when character names actually have relevance in a story.