Is Capital Punishment Necessary? Essay

The death penalty disproportionately targets minorities especially African Americans. In the United States of America there is an unequal and unfair burden against African Americans in the criminal justice system. In 2011, African Americans were only 13.6% of the American population (Rastogi, Johnson, Hoeffel, & Drewery, 2011). However, African Americans in 2011 made up 42% of the total death row population (Snell, 2011). Although a minority of the total population in the United States, African Americans make the majority of inmates on death row facing execution. Furthermore, the death penalty in many states is used as tool that following the racial legacy of Jim Crow laws. Sentences resulting in death are higher in states with a history of lynching (Schweizer 92). States with a history of lynching are predominately found in the Southern United states. The Southern United states has the highest population of death row inmates. In 2009 alone there were 1,630 inmates currently on death row in the South compared to 226 in the North and only 988 in the West (Schweizer 92). In addition, the race of the victim often will determine the sentence. Results from the Baldus Study suggested evidence of racial disparity in the state of Georgia based on the victims race (Schweizer 92). The Baldus study argued African American defendants who committed murdered white individuals had much higher probability of receiving the death penalty. Prosecutors in Georgia pursued a verdict of death in 80% of their cases if the defendant was African American and the victim was white (Schweizer 92). This is purely racial discrimination and prejudice. Finally, “Since 1977, the overwhelming majority (77%) off death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though African Americans make up about half of all homicide victims (Amnesty International).”The race of the both the victim and perpetrator in criminal is irrelevant.

Capital punishment is a difficult subject for a lot of people because many question whether or not it is ethical to kill a convicted criminal. In order to critically analyze whether or not it is ethical, I will look at the issue using a utilitarianism approach because in order to get a good grasp of this topic we need to look at how the decision will impact us in the future. The utilitarianism approach will help us to examine this issue and see what some of the consequences are with this topic of capital punishment. For years, capital punishment has been used against criminals and continues to be used today, but lately this type of punishment has come into question because of the ethical question.

There is also a large disparity between races when it comes to sentencing convicts to Death Row. Looking just at the federal death penalty data released by the Department of Justice between 1995 and 2000, 682 defendants were charged with death-eligible crimes. Out of those 682 defendants, the defendant was black 48% of the cases, Hispanic in 29% of the cases, and white in only 20% of the cases (Coker, 2003).

Racial injustice has always existed in the American criminal justice system (S. Steiker and M. Steiker, 243). This can be seen in recent years where constitutional campaigns on the abolishment of capital punishment were led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Legal Defense and Education Fund (S. Steiker and M.Steiker, 244). This is an organization that fights for equality of rights and to “eliminate race-based discrimination” (Our Mission). It demonstrates that there is an inequality in the treatment of races concerning the death penalty. In addition, according to the authors, they never found a

     The death penalty, does not only show unequal rights, but it also punishes the poor. It shows in recent studies that if an inmate can afford good legal representation, they might can get a lesser charge than death row. It also shows that ninety percent of defendants cannot afford to hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer. Since they cannot afford to hire one, they are forced to use inexperienced court-appointed attorneys that are being underpaid for their services. The less the court-appointed attorneys make, the less they want to make their defense so that they can get rid of this case, and start back making their usual amount of money.

White Americans receive favorable treatment due to racial disparity in the justice system due to a modern stereotype that, based on the color of your skin, you are considered a threat. There are many cases of wrongful convictions based on skin color – a man of color will often receive a longer sentence than a white man. Of course, there has always been racism in the world – it is inescapable. In a report by Samuel Gross, “Race and Wrongful Convictions”, he claims, “African Americans are more than seven times more likely to be imprisoned for murder than white Americans, and more than six times as likely to be killed in a homicide” (Gross). Considering this, it is clear there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Currently, the American justice system is biased in its treatment of black men and for society to progress, this issue

"The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society." This is a quote said by John Lewis. A quote like that is so important in the world of today. The United States is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world and even with that, we are still facing so much tribulation over skin color. Despite the fact that racism has declined over the last several hundred years, looking through the cracks it 's still all around us. This is ranging from unequal court trials to violence with white supremacists. Throughout the years I have found a specific case that catches my eye, The Troy Davis Case. He was executed

To look closely at many of the mechanisms in American society is to observe the contradiction between constitutional equality and equality in practice. Several of these contradictions exist in the realm of racial equality. For example, Black s often get dealt an unfair hand in the criminal justice system. In The Real War on Crime, Steven Donziger explains,

Being sent to Death Row is the highest prosecution a criminal could be sentenced to and the process when determining of someone deserves a death sentence is a very bias decision. Since 1977 when capital punishment was restored there has been about 20,600 homicides and only about .7 death sentences for every 100 homicides has been given in the Cook county. The decision to impose a death sentence is not only based on the crime done but also the race of the victim. Attorneys at a state level has a less formal guide when giving death sentences. It is commonly seen how race plays a major role in the justice system. As apart of attorney protocol of determining if the death sentence is given it is seen black males will be given a higher sentence versus a white male even if the crimes where similar. In this article “Disparities on Death Row” published in Grumman points out the unjustness in the justice system. Through ethos, pathos, and logos Cornelia Grumman effectively persuades her audience to spread the issues of capital punishment assignment.

Twenty two years after the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was constitutional, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released a study examining the trials and sentences of 667 Murder convictions in Philadelphia between 1983 and 1993. The data shown above is a comparison of the races of the criminals and their victims.The DPIC found that around 15% of all black defendants were sentenced to the death penalty whereas, only 2.6% of white defendants were sentenced to the death penalty. That is a substantial difference that leads a reader to believe that our criminal justice system is in fact not colorblind. In our country we have a strong prejudice against the black community. The study shows that when a white person is murdered,

     The death penalty is very discriminatory when it comes to racial issues. "The death penalty is fraught with abuses and the potential for abuse" (Moral Arguments 1). Capital punishment is

According to the Death Penalty Center, in 1973 38 Black people were sentence for death row. Other races were charge with the same crime but Black people were issued death row. Our courts system demonstrates factors that are played in history and today’s society. Black life is not valued in the United States. The Stanford Law Review published a study that found similar patterns of racial disparity, based on the race of the victim, in Arkansas, Florida,Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia (see

There is a lot of controversy about whether the death penalty should be legal or not. It is widely used, with only 18 out of the 50 states having abolished it, but should it be permitted, regardless of the popularity of it? The answer is no. It should be abolished because it demeans life, is cruel, prison is a better punishment, and it is not effective.

Death penalty is just a capital punishment that punishes the worst crimes and if social or racial matters are to be affected by it, then death penalty should not be at fault, but the way the system works as a whole. Senator Russ Feingold states that “We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment.” He puts the system at fault, criticizing it on the fact that if such a system imposes capital punishment that is plagued by racial disparities, it’s not even worth living here anymore. Furthermore, in an article written by Xiaohua Zhu, he tells us that “While it may seem regrettable to execute a handful of felons who may truly want to reform, it would be worse to abolish the death penalty without paying adequate attention to the useful purposes it serves.”. If we were to disband death penalty because of a faulty system, we are forgetting to look at the larger purpose it provides us with. In addition, he states “ the right way to avoid such an error is not to abolish the death penalty, but to improve the legal system and the administration of justice, so the death sentence is given strictly in accordance with

The death penalty is a tough debate and an overwhelming argument in this country. We as Americans put Timothy McVeigh to death by lethal injection just three months ago. Arguments can be made for and against the death penalty, but this is not the problem. Capital Punishment is supposed to be a deterrent to crime, but is the death penalty really a deterrent? Capital Punishment is not a deterrent for crime, and the effects of Capital Punishment are actually hurting the American citizens. Capital Punishment affects the American citizens by having those citizens pay millions of dollars for death row inmates, and these criminals affect those same citizens because the