Many people believe that the death penalty is morally wrong. They believe that having this punishment ensures that some innocent people will be killed, and people often say that it doesn't actually deter crimes. The death penalty is also unfair and irrational. Three factors that aren't related to the crime itself impacts who gets executed; race, wealth, and geography.
Race is a major factor in determining a verdict. It is shown that there is a greater chance of receiving the death penalty if the victim was Caucasian than if they were African American. One report also shows a consistent trend revealing race-of-victim discrimination. "A defendant's odds of receiving a death sentence are 4.8 times higher if the victim was white than if the victim was black." There is also discrimination against the defendant. A study was conducted at the University of Iowa in 1998 that showed it was 3.9 times more likely to receive the death penalty if the defendant is African American. These patterns are explained in some ways by the fact that only 1% of the district attorneys in the United States counties using capitol punishment are African American and 98% are Caucasian.
The area where you are being tried also plays a large role on if you are convicted or not. In some states it's very common to receive the death penalty and in others it's a rarity. The southern states tend to hand out the death penalty more frequently than the rest or the country. In 1999, Connecticut had 5 inmates on death row, Kansas had two, California had 513, Texas had 443. This large range state to state is primarily due to the fact that death penalty statutes have different standards, rules and practices. Moreover, some prosecutors fervent in seeking the death penalty than others are.
In some states inmates can be executed for a crime they committed at the age of 16, in others you are only eligible to receive the death penalty if you were 18 years or older at the time the murder was committed. In other states, it's banned to execute a person with mental retardation. Some states include felony murder, the unpremeditated murder committed during the course of another crime such as burglary or robbery, as a capitol crime. 29 states have a sentence of life without parole, but 23 have statutes that ban judges from telling jurors that they have that sentencing option. Since studies continuously show that when jurors are given the choice between the death penalty and life without parole they most frequently choose the second choice and failure to tell them of this alternative is a guarantee that we will send more people to their execution.
Yet another primary factor involved in determining a sentence of execution is the defendant's wealth. The American Bar Association and multiple other scholars have found that what most often determines whether or not a death sentence is given is not the facts of the crime, but the quality of the legal representation. An astounding majority of the inmates on death row received less than adequate legal representation at their trial. "Almost all capital-crime defendants are indigent when arrested, and are generally represented by court-appointed lawyers, who are inexperienced and underpaid." When defending a capitol case you must be ready to give up anywhere between 700 and 1000 hours of your time. Almost all of the court-appointed attorneys are grossly underpaid, sometimes less than minimum wage which is usually much less than their hourly expenses. Wealthy people are able to hire their own counsel and usually escape the death penalty no matter what the crime was. People who can't afford to hire such a counsel don't have the same opportunity to buy their lives.
"Our nation exacts capital punishment in five ways: by hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad (still authorized in Idaho and Utah), and the most common method, lethal injection. The United States is the only Western industrialized nation that practices the death penalty, and is by far the nation with the largest death row roster in the world. In comparison, all of Western Europe has abolished the death penalty, either by decree of law, or by practice. Fifty-seven nations and territories outlaw the death penalty for any crime, fifteen more allow it only for exceptional crimes such as military law or wartime crimes. Another twenty-six countries and territories are abolitionist de facto, meaning they have not executed anyone during the past ten years or more, or that they have made an international commitment not to carry out executions. In numbers of people executed annually, the United States far exceeds the other 94 documented countries and territories that continue to deliver the death penalty."
Race is a major factor in determining a verdict. It is shown that there is a greater chance of receiving the death penalty if the victim was Caucasian than if they were African American. One report also shows a consistent trend revealing race-of-victim discrimination. "A defendant's odds of receiving a death sentence are 4.8 times higher if the victim was white than if the victim was black." There is also discrimination against the defendant. A study was conducted at the University of Iowa in 1998 that showed it was 3.9 times more likely to receive the death penalty if the defendant is African American. These patterns are explained in some ways by the fact that only 1% of the district attorneys in the United States counties using capitol punishment are African American and 98% are Caucasian.
The area where you are being tried also plays a large role on if you are convicted or not. In some states it's very common to receive the death penalty and in others it's a rarity. The southern states tend to hand out the death penalty more frequently than the rest or the country. In 1999, Connecticut had 5 inmates on death row, Kansas had two, California had 513, Texas had 443. This large range state to state is primarily due to the fact that death penalty statutes have different standards, rules and practices. Moreover, some prosecutors fervent in seeking the death penalty than others are.
In some states inmates can be executed for a crime they committed at the age of 16, in others you are only eligible to receive the death penalty if you were 18 years or older at the time the murder was committed. In other states, it's banned to execute a person with mental retardation. Some states include felony murder, the unpremeditated murder committed during the course of another crime such as burglary or robbery, as a capitol crime. 29 states have a sentence of life without parole, but 23 have statutes that ban judges from telling jurors that they have that sentencing option. Since studies continuously show that when jurors are given the choice between the death penalty and life without parole they most frequently choose the second choice and failure to tell them of this alternative is a guarantee that we will send more people to their execution.
Yet another primary factor involved in determining a sentence of execution is the defendant's wealth. The American Bar Association and multiple other scholars have found that what most often determines whether or not a death sentence is given is not the facts of the crime, but the quality of the legal representation. An astounding majority of the inmates on death row received less than adequate legal representation at their trial. "Almost all capital-crime defendants are indigent when arrested, and are generally represented by court-appointed lawyers, who are inexperienced and underpaid." When defending a capitol case you must be ready to give up anywhere between 700 and 1000 hours of your time. Almost all of the court-appointed attorneys are grossly underpaid, sometimes less than minimum wage which is usually much less than their hourly expenses. Wealthy people are able to hire their own counsel and usually escape the death penalty no matter what the crime was. People who can't afford to hire such a counsel don't have the same opportunity to buy their lives.
"Our nation exacts capital punishment in five ways: by hanging, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad (still authorized in Idaho and Utah), and the most common method, lethal injection. The United States is the only Western industrialized nation that practices the death penalty, and is by far the nation with the largest death row roster in the world. In comparison, all of Western Europe has abolished the death penalty, either by decree of law, or by practice. Fifty-seven nations and territories outlaw the death penalty for any crime, fifteen more allow it only for exceptional crimes such as military law or wartime crimes. Another twenty-six countries and territories are abolitionist de facto, meaning they have not executed anyone during the past ten years or more, or that they have made an international commitment not to carry out executions. In numbers of people executed annually, the United States far exceeds the other 94 documented countries and territories that continue to deliver the death penalty."
A poll given to various areas in the U.S. show that most Americans prefer alternatives to the death penalty. With this information the government should realize that capital punishment is not the only answer and that they should abolish it.
