Race, Capital Punishment, And The Cost Of Murder

The theme of this paper is, the discrimination in courtrooms. The reason for this theme is because, once you listen to the 3rd stanza of this poem you can tell what it is and how the system is in operation to imprison African Americans, and it will never change. The paper will focus on these few topics, a corrupt law system, bias judges and perjury from peers. As a matter of fact, in the poem “Mystery of Iniquity” the writer Lauryn Hill examines discrimination in courtrooms to illustrate, a corrupt law system, bias judges, and perjury.

Glen Loury argues in his essay called “A Nation of Jailer” that the United States is a nation that follows a society that has been affected by racial bias. Loury claims that the people who are targeted by law are racial discriminated. Loury mainly talks about the “poorly educated black and Hispanic men who reside in large numbers in our great urban centers.” (1) Loury has made a clear and strong point. Loury shows his points in three main ways. Loury emphasizes his points by using ethos, logos, and pathos. Loury uses many well-known characters in his writing, and Loury uses strong phrases that impact the reader emotionally and questions to make sure the reader has some sort of connection to Loury’s evidence. Furthermore, Loury gives a lot

The legitimacy of the use of capital punishment has been tarnished by its widespread misuse , which has clouded our judgment regarding the justifiability of the death penalty as a punitive measure. However, the problems with capital punishment, such as the “potential error, irreversibility, arbitrariness and racial skew" , are not a basis for its abolition, as the world of homicide suffer from these problems more acutely. To tackle this question, one must disregard the currently blemished universal status quo and purely assess the advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty as a punitive measure. Through unprejudiced examination of the death penalty and its consequential impacts, it is evident that it is a punishment that effectively serves its retributive, denunciatory, deterrent, and incapacitative goals.

The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.

Legal inequality is an injustice that people of color have been subject to for years. In the US, racial discrimination against people of color in the justice system such as mass incarceration and racial profiling generates a wide variety of public issues that influence the life possibilities of the Latino and Black communities. Laws were created in an effort to ensure the safety and stability of everyone everywhere. With that being said, however, the laws did and do not always have the best interest of certain races in mind. In the book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration and Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander discusses legal inequality in relation to race by asserting that the legal system discriminates against people of color, specifically African Americans, just like they were treated during the Jim Crow era. Legal Equality can be defined as individuals having the same resources and rights available to them equally and on the same level, regardless of race. This paper will argue that the U.S. legal system targets people of color through incarceration, the War on Drugs, and racial segregation.

Few in this country would argue with the fact that the United States criminal justice system possesses discrepancies which adversely affect Blacks in this country. Numerous studies and articles have been composed on the many facets in which discrimination, or at least disparity, is obvious. Even whites are forced to admit that statistics indicate that the Black community is disproportionately affected by the American legal system. Controversy arises when the issue of possible causes of, and also solutions to, these variations are discussed. It’s not just black versus white, it is white versus white, and white versus oriental, whatever the case may be, and it is not justice. If we see patterns then the judges should have the authority to say something. Jury nullifications cannot be overturned regardless of the cause. Exclusionary rule, according to CULS (2010) – Prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of U.S. Constitution; like unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment).

From discrimination to prejudice, from explicit bias to implicit bias, from Jim Crow laws to the current American criminal justice system, there have been many changes, but the outcome has essentially remained the same: racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is treating someone differently only due to one’s race. Although it is said to be illegal in current times,it is still implemented through new techniques such as the modern criminal justice systems. Michelle Alexander discusses in her book, The New Jim Crow, how the current criminal justice system and mass incarceration are a viable analogy to “Jim Crow.” The analogy is apparent through the laws, historical examples, and current affairs as well.

The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues on American soil. Blacks are more likely to face the death penalty than whites in the commission of identical crimes(CNN, 2014). The history of capital punishment dates back to the days before Christ. The Old Testament adage 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' has survived throughout the ages despite the New Testament's rendition of 'thou shall not kill'. Today's American victims endure a more demure of style of cruel and unusual punishment; death by lethal injection has replaced the barbaric traditions of the past.

For hundreds of years’ race and crime in America has been an ongoing issue. Therefore, the criminal justice topic I am going to research throughout this paper will be regarding the different races and crimes that are most commonly committed and how each different race is treated in the criminal justice system also how they are each individually affected by the American justice system. I will discuss background information of each race as well as problems and issues they are currently facing today regarding the criminal justice system.

18th century William Blackstone cited murder as defined by: when a person, of sound memory and discretion, unlawfully kills any reasonable creature in being and under the king 's peace, with malice aforethought, either express or implied” Take 4 different cases: a white women, black women, a white man, and a white man. Now just looking at the race and gender, which of these would you expect to get either the death penalty or life in prison? You might think, women could get life in prison, possibly with a chance for parole, and the white man could get the death penalty, and the black man, life in prison. That’s what’s seen on the outside but if you dig further, you would be wrong. For instance take, Kimberly McCarthy a black women out of Texas, was sentenced to death after killing her 71 year old, white neighbor. As being the 500th person to die by capital punishment since its reinstatement in the US since 1976, it caused quite a bit of stirring, involving her race. Jason Michael Hann, a white man who is from California who is already serving a 30-year sentence for the murder of his 2-month-old son, Jason, received the death penalty for the slaying of his 10-month-old daughter. Juwan Wickmare, a 19 year old African American was convicted on 1st degree murder in August 2012 in the 2010 shooting death of 33-year-old pizza delivery driver Michael Nettles. Janepsy Carballo was found guilty of first degree murder in the 2008 death of Ilan Nissim, ex-business partner she blamed for

here is a serious problem with our justice system. It is not a secret that people are judged by the color of their skin, ethnicity and in some cases by religious beliefs. I strongly believe that race affects how an individual is perceived/ treated and it plays an important role in the American criminal justice. Unfortunately, race plays an important role in the American criminal justice system, also this issue exists in other countries and societies. The American justice system is not an exception of this wrongdoing. For instance, minorities, such as African Americans and Latinos, are often prosecuted differently than Caucasians offenders. Verdicts not only tend to be much harsher, but are also accompanied by longer-term sentences. According to the article titled, “Justice is harsher in America than in any other rich country. Between 2.3m and 2.4 m Americans are behind bars, roughly one in every 100 adults.” where for the most part, the majority of inmates are minorities (Too Many Laws, Too Many Prisoners). “The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men” ([infographic] Combating Mass Incarceration – The Facts). The question is, why have minorities have become the majority of the American prison population?

There is a serious problem with our justice system. It is not a secret that people are judged by the color of their skin, ethnicity and in some cases by religious beliefs. I strongly believe that race affects how an individual is persived/ treated and it plays an important role in the American Criminal Justice Unfortunately, race plays an important role in the American Criminal Justice System. This issue exist in other countries and societies too. The American Justice System is not an exception of this wrongdoing. For intance, minorities, such as African Americans and Latinos, are often prosecuted differently than Caucasians offenders. Verdicts not only tend to be much harsher, but are also accompanied by longer-term sentences. According to article titled, “Justice is harsher in America than in any other rich country. Between 2.3m and 2.4 m Americans are behind bars, roughly one in every 100 adults.” where for the most part, the majority of inmates are minorities (Economist.com). “The incarceration rates disproportionately impact men of color: 1 in every 15 African American men and 1 in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to 1 in every 106 white men.”(aclu.org) The question is, why have minorities have become the majority of the American prison population?

In our modern society, many African American citizens have been suffering from racial oppression. The difficulties of blacks trying to undergo justice is overall, halting their lives and character as blacks. Understandably, many citizens have committed crimes to where a white citizen(s) or police officer have to intervene and take charge. Unquestionably, the stand your ground law is by far disregarded when trying to cultivate equity. The idea of abolishing race, the warrant of racism, remains illicit in our sociological imagination. Racial oppression is seen as a contribution to such difficulties, leaning toward the struggles of black youth. It seems as though, the actual physical death or the disintegration of one’s personal dignity plays a very big part in social issues such as stereotyping and racism.

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,

In society there many things that are debated among the people based on their beliefs, morals, and values. For this paper chose the death penalty because it is one of the highly debated topics in not only today’s society but also in the past. The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, it used as a procedure of retaliation against those who commit violent crimes such as murder and other capital crimes. There are many forms of this punishment, for instance, the electric chair, lethal injections, and the firing squad. There are many feelings and arguments in relation to capital punishment. Some people believe that the death penalty is moral because they deserve it and it provides protection to the society. However, in this paper I will argue that capital punishment is totally immoral because it is not fair, is it unnecessary, and unethical.