Imagine a man or woman standing in front of a jury accused of a crime they may or may not have committed. The jury has two decisions: either to let the defendant live or to let him or her die under the death penalty. The death penalty is a capital punishment where the person convicted of the crime is executed. The jury may use evidence in the case to determine the fate of the defendant or they could use their own racial bias. Unfortunately, more often than not the future of the defendant is fueled by racist thoughts in the process of his or her conviction. Therefore, the death penalty should be abolished because of the racism in the death penalty system.
The issue of racism and the death penalty could have been dated back to when humans first walked on the Earth. Prejudices against a certain group of people vary from religion to race. In World War II, Jewish people were discriminated against by the Nazis while in the American Civil War there was the issue of if African Americans should be just as free as white men. The death penalty dated back to ancient Greece under the laws of Draco where it was used as a capital punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape (“Capital Punishment”). Much like today, the death penalty is a capital punishment where someone has done those crimes. In America’s past however, such “death penalties” were taken place by executing African American men without even a trial. For example in 1876, white militia executed five African American men without a trail in what is known as the Hamburg Massacre and in 1882-1968 around 3,446 African American men and women are put to death for alleged crimes where they weren’t even proven guilty (“Racism Timeline”). Such events made this problem get attention and ga...
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...se people will have to be part of a jury or get jobs having to do with criminology, racist thoughts won’t get in the way to finding the truth. With this problem however, the death penalty should be abolished because the issue is not nearly close to being solved and it may take a long time in order to solve it.
Works Cited
"Capital Punishment." Britannica School. N.p., 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Issues of Fairness: Racial Bias and Quality of Legal Representation." Student Resources in Context. Gale, 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Maurer, Marc. "Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System Need to Be Addressed." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Gale, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
"Racism Timeline." SIRS Issues Reasearcher. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Whitehead, John W. "The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished." Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Gale, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Racial discrimination has been an immense problem in our society for a very long time. The fact that the race of a victim plays a role in his or her sentencing is appalling. Discrimination within our society needs to come to an end. It’s frightening to think that if you are a minority facing a capital punishment case, which you might be found guilty only because of the color of your skin.
In conclusion, we have seen that the race of the victim and the emotionality of the victim impact statements highly affects the jury’s empathy and therefore might influence their decision making. Understanding the interaction between the racial in-group/out-group and empathy may allow defense attorneys to lead jurors for harsher punishments for out-group racial groups and more lenient punishments for in-groups by playing on juror empathy and thus putting emotions before law and reason. Consequently, in any capital punishment case, race of the victim and race of the jury, could be the difference between life and death for a defendant and therefore needs to be studied further.
Brown, D. (2012). An invitation to profile: Arizona v. united states. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 12(2), 117-127.
Retrieved April 12, 2005, from Civilrights.org Web site: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/cj/. Kansal, T. (2005). The 'Secondary'. In M. Mauer (Ed. Racial disparity in sentencing: A review of the literature.
The criminal justice system is full of inequality and disparities among race, gender, and class. From policing neighborhoods, and the ongoing war on drugs, to sentencing, there are underlying biases and discriminatory practices in the criminal justice system that impacts minority communities and groups. Fueled by stereotypes and generalizations, it is important to identify and discuss what crimes take place and who actually makes it up.
This essay with critique “Race Capital Punishment and the Cost of Murder” by M. Cholbi. The Critique will discuss and point out some unnecessary concepts and flaws in the author’s argument along with logical fallacies. The author appeals for a moratorium among capital punishment due to racial disparities. This essay will analyze the author’s paper on the subject of race and capital punishment. The subject of capital punishment is controversial, as some citizens believe capital punishment is unconstitutional. Other citizens believe it does not matter if a convict is black or white, if a person murders someone they deserve to die.
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
For much of the twentieth century, punishment and crime have portrayed some of the most powerful signs of the racial divide in the United States. Marginalized and the poor remains the most biased against the criminal justice scheme (Barak, 2010). Throughout the Americas. racial minorities were tried in white courtrooms by white juries. Class and race are challenging.
These authors’ arguments are both well-articulated and comprehensive, addressing virtually every pertinent concept in the issue of explaining racially disparate arrest rates. In The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System, Wilbanks insists that racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is a fabrication, explaining the over-representation of African Americans in arrest numbers simply through higher incidence of crime. Walker, Spohn and DeLone’s The Color of Justice dissents that not only are African Americans not anywhere near the disproportionate level of crime that police statistics would indicate, they are also arrested more because they are policed discriminately. Walker, Spohn and DeLone addi...
Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_reducingracialdisparity.pdf New Century Foundation. (2005). The Color of Crime: Race, Crime and Justice in America. Retrieved from http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdf Pearson Education. (2008).
Still to this day there many people who are against the death penalty even after seeing all the changes the government and the people have made. Many people do not believe that it is right to punish someone to death; they believe that if we are going to stop killing the government needs to be a leader and stop killing people as well. Some believe that the system is unfair and race becomes a huge debate. Racial discrimination will always be a factor when looking at death penalty cases. There will never be a clear line in whether or not death penalty is the right thing to do; there will always be people for and against it. The factor that needs to stay constant is the courts and jury being fair to gender, race, illness, age, and the methods they use to put these people to death.
One of the most repetitive and controversial topics discussed in the criminal justice system, is the death penalty. Capital punishment has been a part of our nation’s history since the creation of our constitution. In fact, as of January 1st, 2016, 2,943 inmates were awaiting their fate on death row (Death Penalty Information Center). Throughout my life, I have always been a strong advocate for the death penalty. During the majority of my undergraduate degree, I was a fierce supporter of capital punishment when discussing the topic in classes. However, throughout many criminal justice courses, I found myself in the minority, regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. While debating this topic, I would always find myself sympathetic to the victims and their families, as one should be, wanting those who were responsible for heinous crimes to
Tucker, William. "Society Needs the Death Penalty to Deter Murderers." Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Shenendehowa Public Library. 24 Nov. 2003
Randall, Vernellia R. "Institutional Racism in American Society." Race, Racism, and the Law 2000: n. pag. Web. 27 Nov. 2014.
Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished because of many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also. People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person life on their hands. This makes them just as guilty as the person who committed the crime: the only difference is that they didn't use weapon except their mouth to kill them. The death penalty should be abolished because it is racist, punishes the poor, condemns those who are innocent to death, and is a cruel punishment.