ipl-logo

African American Attitudes Towards Death Penalty

1278 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: My opinions on the death penalty

Attitudes towards the death penalty differs among the different groups of society. Throughout my research findings, it is just to conclude that African Americans tend to oppose the death penalty, whereas Whites lean more towards supporting the use of the death penalty. One reason why African Americans strongly oppose execution is due to their unfair experiences, and encounters with the criminal justice system—especially the police— that has fuelled this opposition, fear, and resistance to such sanctions. To further prove that the death penalty results in the death of innocents, it is important to take a look at the unique experiences the Black community has, and still is facing with the criminal justice system, and implementation of the death …show more content…

Whereby district attorneys dismiss African Americans from jury duty in such capital cases. More statistical research findings establish the differential attitudes towards the death penalty further proves the social construction of the death penalty, and it’s favour to Whites. According to one research study done by Bader et. al. (2010), found that in a survey of 1,721 random U.S citizens, whites and conservatives, are strongly for the belief that they do not want the death penalty abolished. In another research study of 600 White and 600 Black individuals through the National Race and Crime Survey (2007) founded that the percentage of whites in favour was 64.96 %, compared to 50% of blacks are in favour. Interestingly they also found that the majority of whites surveyed expressed a high resistance to beliefs that the death penalty is racially unfair or caused by structural oppression, nor is that the system is racially biased. Instead they believe that it is because they (racialized groups— specifically Blacks), deserve it. Therefore proving that the implementation of the the death penalty is a result of public …show more content…

In his defence of the use of the death penalty in terms of deterrence, he claims that it is the distributive process, also known as the trial, in which injustice is present. However, he also believes that trials are more likely to be fair since life is at stake. This does not apply to Davis’ case. It seems as if the jury did not really look into his situation more carefully, but instead acted upon fear and instinct that Davis is indeed guilty. Despite the fact that there were no evidence to prove that he was indeed the murder, there were no murder weapons found, no DNA samples, or blood evidence, the jury still found him guilty and sentenced him to death row. Even after having seven out of the nine witnesses withdraw their claims of seeing Davis murder the officer, and even so mentioned that they were tipped by the police, they still proceeded with the execution. Where is the justice in this? Where was the careful consideration that Haag was talking about? What was the benefit of executing Davis? Perhaps the main motive to execute Davis, or arguably all those who were executed, was to avoid more murders, and bring peace to the victims family. In Davis’ case, the outcomes were the complete opposite. One day after Davis’ execution, the Washington Post wrote an article speaking to the innocence of Davis, and the continuous fight of his supporters.Some supporters included Pope Benedict

Show More
Related
252 Words | 2 Pages

He spent nineteen years on death row and, after three set execution dates, was executed in 2011. Given that almost all of the witnesses who testified against Troy Davis at his trial withdrew or contradicted their testimony, there were serious questions surrounding

Read More
315 Words | 2 Pages

for a dull respondent than for a white prosecutor in a practically identical case. A study in California found that the people who killed whites were general 3 times more slanted to be sentenced to death than the people who killed blacks and more than 4 times more likely than the people who killed Latinos. Looks at exhibit that 96% of states where there have been surveys of race and capital punishment, there was an example of either race-of-casualty or race-of-litigant separation, or both. A respondent was a few times more prone to be sentenced to death if the homicide casualty was white. A January 2003 study discharged by the University of Maryland presumed that race and geology are central point in capital punishment choices.

Read More
201 Words | 1 Pages

Adolfo Davis committed murder at 14 years old and was sentenced to a life in prison. The judge argued that Adolfo had known what he was doing during the robbery. She has a point that Adolfo could have changed his mind at the time of the robbery. Also Adolfo had numerous opportunities to get help and leave the gang. He could have called the police and report his situation.

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

Tragically, the times of racial predisposition in capital punishment are not a remainder

Read More
964 Words | 4 Pages

Primary Annotated Bibliography McCleskey v Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987) McCleskey v Kemp is a Supreme Court case that highlighted racism in the death penalty process. The petitioner in the case provided a controversial statistical study that correlated racism in death penalty sentencings. The Supreme Court Justices were asked to answer the question of whether or not the statistical study provided could substantiate that the sentence in the case violated the petitioner’s eighth and fourteenth amendment rights. This case will be the main focus of my research paper.

Read More
628 Words | 3 Pages

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Criminal Justice Stevenson through his book has provided various examples that show that people of color and low-income individuals are more likely to be presumed fully prior to presenting their cases. The author has stated that executions are a good example of how norms and policies are used for the purposes of punishing and controlling the people of color For instance, he argues that one in three black people are expected to be sent to jail in their lifetime. Further on, eighty percent of people on death row are black while 65 percent of homicide victims are black.

Read More
549 Words | 3 Pages

Duane Buck was arrested for killing his ex girlfriend and her friend. He was then convicted of capital murder afterwards. Capital murder is any murder that makes the killer eligible for the death penalty. For the death penalty to be executed, it needs to be decided that the murderer will be dangerous after his release. While deciding the penalty during the trial, Lorie Davis, the Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the prosecution, had evidence of Buck’s danger in the future based on his criminal history, his conduct, and behavior before and after his arrest.

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

Davis used is sense of words in which he say, “There were eleven votes for guilty. It’s not so easy for me to send a boy off to die without talking about it first. He goes on to analyze the case, pointing out the choppy evidence that was presented to them. After discussing the case, Mr. Davis decides to call for a secret ballot vote, stating “Without casting my vote and if all votes come back guilty, I’ll cast my vote for guilty as well.” Which turned out that what was once a unanimous vote of 11-1 favoring guilty, is now at 10-2 still favoring guilty.

Read More
823 Words | 4 Pages

Davis professed is innocence until the very end, nevertheless he was convicted regardless of the fact that seven of the nine witnesses recanted their evidence against Davis. These factors caused many people to be skeptical as to who really commited the murder and created reasonable doubt to Davis' guilt. As a result of this, hundreds of individuals took up Davis' cause and sought to have his case reopened. However, the U.S Supreme court

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

He went through the same fair trial that every other individual goes through, and based on that, the death penalty is not

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Source A argues that disparities between blacks and whites have been appalling in court. According to Source A, “If a black person kills a white person, they are twice as likely to receive the death sentence as white person who kills a black person” (2). This reveals that a black person has a higher rate of receiving the death sentence when tried for murdering a white person. If a white person is tried for a killing of a black person they have a 50% chance of getting the death sentence, then that means that a black person would receive a 100% chance of getting the death sentence for killing a white person.

Read More
1343 Words | 6 Pages

This report is helpful because it highlights how race is influenced on the death penalty. It will help me see if the death penalty is racially neutral. Coker, D. (2003). Addressing the real world of racial injustice in the criminal justice system. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

Read More
953 Words | 4 Pages

Capital punishment is racist, it’s not cheaper than life imprisonment, it’s a barbaric an immoral act, and, contrary of people beliefs, the death penalty does not deter crime. Capital punishment is racist, discriminates against the powerless, the mental disturbed and the minorities. As Mr. van den Haag explains in his article “New Argument Against Capital Punishment?” poor and black murderers have more chances to face the death penalty than

Read More
1145 Words | 5 Pages

Another issue that was discussed is the inequality of death penalty in practice. There have been serious issues with racial discrimination. For reference in cases with white victims and black defendants convictions occurred twenty two percent of the time while with black victims and white defendants with percentage dropped to a measly three

Read More
1897 Words | 8 Pages

Racial and wealth biases in the death penalty Since the Mayflower first set foot on the shores of North America in 1620, white settlers have relied upon the death penalty for the punishment of those who have been convicted of the most heinous of crimes. The death penalty was supposed to be fair and equal, with Lady Justice seeing nothing but that justice. Rather than fairness, the death penalty has been unequal in function, with African Americans being sentenced at much higher rates and the poor getting unequal access to legal resources. The death penalty has been a failed experiment that, rather than necessary to improve society through deterrence, targeted the vulnerable. To understand minority discrimination with the death penalty, one needs to understand the role of minorities in the history of the United States of America.

Read More

More about African American Attitudes Towards Death Penalty

Related Topics

Open Document