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The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

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“According to the Death Penalty Information Center, most death penalty studies that look at race indicate that a defendant is more likely to receive the death penalty if the victim is white, rather than black” (Butler). Paul Butler emphasizes that the death penalty is unconstitutionally cruel because the reason why people are sentenced to capital punishment is due to their race. A person’s race is focused more on a conviction for the death penalty than the actual crime itself. As a result, this causes the death penalty to be unacceptable in society. At least eighteen states have already ended capital punishment since early 2014; however, some states have not and continue to have it because they don’t see it as cruel. It is proven that the death …show more content…

Numerous of people have been impacted by this type of punishment, especially those who are convicted. “At least one study has shown that minority defendants with white victims were far more likely to be sentenced to death than others” (Brown-Dean). Brown-Dean analyzes how a person’s race effects the outcome of the death penalty. Since race has a bigger impact than the crime itself, the fact that the color of one’s skin determines the fate of capital punishment is brutal. It follows then, that the defendant’s race and the race of the victim could cause the punishment of death. The death penalty is biased because people that are Latino or black will most likely end up with a death sentence than white people (Bloodsworth). Bloodsworth claims that the people who end up getting executed or are on death parole, are races other than white. So the death penalty is beyond cruel because it doesn’t serve justice for the victims of color but does serve justice for the victims that are white. In fact, there are more people that are Latino and black that received the death …show more content…

Furthermore, people are still being executed or are on death parole, yet there are innocent. Indeed, there have been unfortunate events where those that were convicted of a horrendous crime, who were innocent, still received an inhuman punishment such as death. According to Kirk Noble Bloodsworth, “The death penalty will never work. It will always be possible to execute an innocent person”. Bloodsworth explains that the death penalty is not accurate enough because a person that is innocent can be punished horribly for something they didn’t do and that goes against the Eighth Amendment. “But application of the death penalty remains so unequal that it offends both the U.S. constitution and international human rights law” (Butler). Butler acknowledges that the execution of people is unfair because it’s vicious and it affronts human rights. The upshot of all of this is that the death sentence has no fairness and kills innocent

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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.

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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.

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This disparity perpetuates a cycle of poverty and injustice, as the poor are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. The death penalty, imposed primarily on minorities and the poor, epitomizes the ethical failures of the criminal justice system (Equal Justice Initiative, 2023). Despite overwhelming evidence of racial and economic bias, the death penalty remains legal in many jurisdictions, wrongfully taking the lives of individuals who have been denied justice (Equal Justice Initiative, 2023). The arbitrary and discriminatory application of the death penalty undermines the fundamental value of human life and exacerbates systemic inequalities that plague the criminal justice system. In conclusion, the book raises profound ethical questions about the death penalty.

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This is one example why there should be great cause for concern with the ethics of the death penalty. For instance, “For every 9 who have been executed in the U.S. one person on death row has been proven innocent and released, a shocking rate of error.” (Just Mercy, 2019), The fact that there are several points at which there can be errors or biases within our criminal justice system, the death penalty as a punishment needs to be re-evaluated. I personally believe that even one innocent person executed is too many and therefore makes the death penalty a failure to the criminal justice

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990 Words | 4 Pages

The author’s studies indicate that the criminal justice system choose majority of their targets and suspects predominantly by race. According to studies conducted by the U. S Department of Justice, the imprisonment rate by race per 100,000 residents over 3,000 black males were imprisoned in the year 2000 compared to white males imprisonment rate of less than 500. This shows that conviction of crime, robbery, murder, and other violence and drug related crimes has a clear discrepancy across racial groups.

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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.

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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.

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The minimum possibility of killing an innocent should be enough to abolish the death penalty, because no matter how hard the law try, there will always be a small chance of a mistake. In the book “WHEN THE STATES KILL… The death

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For example, a black defendant is four times more likely to be sentenced to death than a white defendant when a similar crime is committed. Additionally, a victim’s race is a key factor in determining whether or not the defendant gets the death penalty (Time). Why does the race of a defendant or victim matter in determining whether a life is taken? Does having darker skin really make you less of a person? The racial bias and discrimination in the United States is unbelievable.

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criminal justice system, African Americans tend to be the victim of this punishment due to their race and class. defendant convicted of killing white victim is more likely to face death penalty than those convicted of killing non-white victims. The reason behind the racial disparity is that there is a problem in policy, implicit biases and structural disadvantages. The impact of race on capital sentencing is astonishing, since 1976 the U.S. has executed thirteen times more black defendants with white victim than white defendants with black victim. While criminal justice department claim they are color blind Such statistical states they are not color blind instead they are biased and not caring about the African Americans and minorities.

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1390 Words | 6 Pages

Criminals are shielded from cruel and unusual punishments. Finding the better option for good is sometimes the only answer. More so, execution is a crueler punishment than a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The process of entrusting a jury and judge with the power to decide someone's fate and put an end to their life will always be inhumane and seen as a cruel punishment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled capital punishment constitutional, it is difficult to determine if someone really deserves to die rather than just spending life locked away with no possibility of release.

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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

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“The law may be color-blind as it is written, but not as it is enforced.” Racial bias in the death penalty can be traced back to Furman v. Georgia, where handing down the death penalty sentence, unfairly, constituted as a cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The reinstatement of the death penalty with its new sentencing guidelines, implemented by the Supreme Court, was to ensure that the death penalty sentence was used in a constitutional way. Despite these guidelines, somehow, racial bias has found a way to thrive. It has been documented that an individual is more likely to receive the death penalty in a case where the victim is White than in cases where the victim is Black.

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659 Words | 3 Pages

Studies conducted by the people behind the death penalty information center, have shown that African Americans were over 80 percent of the people condemned by the death penalty in Pennsylvania. In the united states 82% of the studies the race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty. Those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks (deathpenaltyinfo). 5. Counterclaim

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Since 1976, African American executions account for 41.66% of all executions and white people account for 42.73% (“Executions”). Similarly, persons executed for interracial murders since 1976 shows staggering evidence that race plays a huge role in whether or not a defendant will be sentenced to death row. In fact, in 1990 the United States General Accounting Office, Death Penalty Sentence said, “In 82% of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, ie, those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks” (“Executions”). According to the statistics found at deathpenaltyinfo.org, since 1976, only 31 white people who murdered an African American person were sentenced to death but 295 African Americans who murdered a white person were given capital punishment (“Executions”). Another example of this blatant racism is the state of Colorado.

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