African American Death Penalty Essay

The Death Penalty

In 1988 Walter McMillian, who is Black was accused of a crime he didn't commit. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman who worked as a clerk in a dry cleaning store in Monroeville, Alabama. Mr. McMillian was held on death row prior to being convicted and sentenced to death. His trial lasted only a day and a half. Three witnesses testified against Mr. McMillian and the jury ignored multiple alibi witnesses, who were Black, who testified that he was at a church fish fry at the time of the crime. The trial judge overrode the jury’s sentencing verdict for life and sentenced Mr. McMillian to death…. EJI's Bryan Stevenson took on the case in post conviction, where he showed that the State’s

In the United States Declaration of Independence it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (“Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives”) Our government is founded on the idea that every person has a right to their life, their freedom, and their happiness. Death penalties in the United States take away the rights of criminals, but it's important to remember that criminals are people too. The founding fathers formed their beliefs that all men should have certain rights that can not be taken away, whether they are bad or good. According to the article What is the 8th Amendment it states that, “The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was created as a part of the Bill of Rights to protect criminals from excessive punishment. It forbids the government from using cruel and unusual punishment as well as excessive fines and bail to punish people who have broken the law” (“8th Amendment: Lesson for Kids”). The Founding Fathers knew that the government has the ability to punish people through the court system and to keep the government in check they created the 8th amendment to preserve the rights of the people. Some people argue that through death penalties the rights of life to innocent people are

George Woodworth once examined the death penalty rates among all death eligible defendants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between the years of 1983 and 1993. The results of their study proved that the odds of receiving the death penalty in Philadelphia increased by 38% when the accused was black. (“Race and the Death Penalty | American Civil Liberties Union”) This shows that the justice system is biased and proves that a black person is more likely to receive a death punishment for committing the same crime as a white person. Another example of discrimination is when death penalties are given to those that are poor and grow up in underprivileged backgrounds. For example, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, 95% of convicts languishing on death row in the United States come from underprivileged backgrounds. Their court-appointed lawyers often don’t have the means to expedite the DNA or ballistics tests that could unravel the prosecution’s case. (Bellivier) Bryan Stevenson from the NGO Equal Justice Initiative later goes on to say that, “We have a system of justice that treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent” (Bellivier). The death penalty should be abolished because it discriminates against those of lower class and different races and causes too many innocent people to end up in prison. Some opponents agree with the death