Self-Analysis

When asked to think of a debatable public issue that interested me, the death penalty immediately came to mind. I have never had a strong opinion on the issue of the death penalty. I’d often been asked what I believed, but had never given it much thought and quite frequently gave different answers. One day I’d be in a particularly bad mood and was all for the death penalty. And sooner rather than later someone would ask the same question, I would be feeling more compassionate and would be completely against it. I didn’t really matter to me, I was fickle at best. As cliché as it is going to sound, it was the summer reading book that made my ambivalence disappear.

Before reading Sister Helen Prejean’s book the Death of Innocents, I had never taken the time or made the effort to really decide what I felt in regards to the death penalty. There had never been a face or story relating to the issue; it was just something that didn’t effect me, something that I didn’t really care about. And while I have not transformed and become a radical activist, I now have a definitive answer when someone asks me if I agree with the death penalty, “no.” It was my first thought when I began to ponder writing a blog on a public issue. I first thought of the death penalty on a large scale, and was intimidated to think of writing a blog on such a wide range of information. Narrowing the topic down to racism in the death penalty made it a much more manageable task.

I chose to do my blog on racism because I feel it was a debatable aspect of the death penalty. I knew that people would have an opinion on the issue and that I would learn a lot—I did. Before I began researching for my blog the only source I had gotten information from was my summer reading; I found there were limitless supplies of statistics and arguments about the possible racist death penalty. I have learned so much, and as a result, have become much more passionate about the topic. The more I learn, the more confused I become that the issue is not better known. I found it astounding to read the statistics and wonder how this injustice continues to fly under the radar.

When I first approached the topic I knew little, my argument showed this. But as I read and became more versed in the technical jargon, and as my anger grew I developed a better argument. Knowledge is the best tool to sharpening an argument about an issue, and the wealth of reading materials on the internet made this an easy task. As I took in information and continued to write, I made more concise points and expressed what I was trying to say more effectively. At first I was unsure of my argument, and how to get my point across, this got better as time passed and my research continued.

I also believe that using different modes of discourse helped me to craft a more compelling argument. The aesthetics of the blog page: the colors, pictures, font, and videos, are all a pathetic appeal to emotion. I used them to try and set a darker, more serious tone—the death penalty is not a laughing matter. The picture specifically is an appeal to emotion; it is not easy to look at a picture of someone just before they are killed. Later though, I used statistical information and was able to make a more compelling argument, one that along with the emotional side, would help to change some peoples minds.

As I wrote and learned more on the topic, I became better about saying what I wanted to say, and essentially, at making more sense with a better focused, and more compelling argument.

What's Going to Happen?

With the death penalty being such a polar issue, it is imperative that there be some sort of compromise or consensus drawn on the issue. If no conclusion about the death penalty is reached then there will continue to be the issue of racism in the justice system. There needs to be a resolution, an end to the debate—answers about the possible corruptness of the death penalty.

Though unrelated in certain aspects, the Supreme Court is currently reviewing the death penalty on the accusation that it violates the eighth amendment, which outlaws cruel and unusual punishment. It is good to know that for one reason or another, people are paying attention to the death penalty. There are multiple reasons to abolish the death penalty, though it is not the one I focused on that is causing the stir, it is another added reason that the death penalty should be eradicated.

As a supposedly advanced progressive nation, it is shocking to see that we are among one of the last developed countries to either drastically limit the death penalty by reforms, or to abolish it all together. 77 countries have abolished the death penalty since 1976; it is becoming apparent that we are falling behind in the times, concerning the death penalty. Without some sort of reform, the issue of the death penalty will continue to divide the nation, and a disproportionate number of minorities, as well as any number of innocent people will be killed. The country is ready for change; it is time to realize that certain aspects of our justice system are becoming archaic and need to be revamped. Civil Rights have come a long way with the school systems, with public opinions and public services; the justice system needs to catch up.

‘Look, examine, reflect. You hold capital punishment up as an example. Why? Because of what it teaches. And just what is it that you wish to teach by means of this example? That thou shalt not kill. And how do you teach that "thou shalt not kill"? By killing.’

Blogs to Consider

Though I have read many blogs on a variety of different issues, there are a few that I can't help but go back to. All of the blogs I have read have been informative, but a certain few have appealed to me on a different level. I have briefly described three of them that you need to check out, all are issues that are important and need to be contemplated and discussed.

This is why WE hot....global warming is an entertaining, yet informative blog on global warming. The site is aesthetically very pleasing, with bright colors, colorful fonts, and pictures. I am also attracted to the blog because I personally knew very little about global warming, or even if it really existed. With some of the other blogs I was pretty well informed about their topics--with this one I was excited to learn. It is apparent while reading the blog that "fashionable tree hugger," the author, is excited about expressing her opinions. I found it interesting that she synthesized her love of fashion and her concern about the environment. A lot of time, effort, and research was put into the blog and the outcome is a blog that is enjoyable and yet enlightening.

Another blog I enjoy to read is Marriage: The Sex is Always the Same. Though it is currently pretty short, and is not as well researched as the blog on global warming, it is none the less on an interesting topic and is discussed in a humorous manner. Unlike most of the others, this blog managed to make me laugh, and I'm sure it doesn't hurt that I agree with the authors views. I think gay marriage is an important civil rights issue that needs to be addressed. Though it is a stretch, it deals with my blog in this aspect. People need to be treated fairly, and I'm not opposed to learning and laughing at the same time.

Universal Health Care: Revamping the American Health Care System is a blog dedicated to exploring the possibility of a universal health care system in America. Initially, I was skeptical and not extremely enthusiastic about reading the blog, this quickly changed. I went into the blog thinking that it was a bad idea, but upon reading more have began to rethink my previous stance. The blog is well organized and offers a large amount of facts, statistics, and helpful information. A solid argument is put forth and the blog is an interesting idea, and is possibly something in America's future.

Helpful Links

In researching the death penalty I have come across many informative and helpful sites dealing with the death penalty. Hopefully they will be of help if you wish to learn more.

One such site was the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, a national grass roots organization centered around the abolition of the death penalty. It offers facts, statistics, opinions, information about events, videos and stories of those on death row, as well as compelling arguments about the death penalty. The organization also sends out news letters and is always trying to get people to join the movement.

The most useful site I found was the Death Penalty Information Center, or the DPIC. The site offers an extremely large amount of information about the death penalty, from the very beginning to today. There are state by state breakdowns of executions, it tells of other countries, basically, it had everything I could even think of. If you need information, this is the site to explore.

Race, Racism, and the Law, is a site created by The University of Dayton: School of Law. It has information and racism and the death penalty as researched by graduate students and professors. It is very informative and the information given was thorough, but easy to understand.

I found a site called Pro and Con: The Death Penalty in Black and White, a short but none the less helpful analysis. The author is the vice president of a victims rights group called Justice for All. I found that his ideas where not what I had been looking for, but rather made me think. It offers another side of the argument, the one in favor of the death penalty. He had the same information, but interpreted it to suit his beliefs.

I came across articles from a newsletter entitled, Counter Punch: America's Best Political Newsletter." It offered many opinions and sides of the issue that I found helpful when trying to form my argument. It's tag line is "Tells the Facts, and Names the Names." In reading it this seems to be quite true of the site, it has a lot to offer.

The National Center for Policy Analysis is a broad site, not dedicated solely to the death penalty, but with good information concerning it. From the home page if you click on the Crime Policy Issue it takes you to a screen where you can then click on the death penalty. The article I found most helpful was the Myth of Racism in the Death Penalty.

I found information regarding the history of the death penalty across the world from a site that deals with crime rates and statistics from across the globe. It also dealt with the earliest executions, as well as ones since then.

A useful site I found was the Community Service Society. Though it deals solely with statistical data from the State of New York, the information is relative to the country as a whole. It talks about how the death penalty is a flawed institution, attacking not only minorities, but the socioeconomically challenged as well.

Think Progress is a website that deals with issues of change. It deals with issues of global leadership, healthy communities, and social and economic justice. The site is composed of many writers and information on a wealth of topics can easily be found. The death penalty was one of those such topics.

Death Penalty Focus was a great site about the death penalty. The organization was founded in 1988 and is now one of the largest non-profit organizations dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty in the nation. It is a well researched and official grass-roots movement that offers a large amount of information on the death penalty and its supposed flaws.

All of these sites I found helpful when trying to find information and formulate my opinion. If you care to research any farther they all should be of use.

Modern Day Example

The most alarming statistic I have come across in researching the death penalty has to do with the capital punishment rate in the deep south of Alabama. The facts are that the state is 25% black, but death row is 47% black. I could use this to argue that this statistic is racist, but this claim could easily be refuted by the argument that proportionally more blacks commit crimes than whites. A statistic that cannot be as easily refuted is one I came upon while researched the death penalty statistics of certain states. I found that only 6% of the murders in Alabama are of blacks killing whites. And yet a at the same time a staggeringly high 60% of the people on death row are blacks there for killing whites.

Our justice system is not fair, there is no blind justice. The death penalty is fraught with defects and something needs to be done about it. At the very least a moratorium needs to be called for and major adjustments made to the current system. There needs to be a certain level of equality in the justice system for it to be effective and fair, it is currently neither.

A current day example of this issue is that of the Jena 6 case in Louisiana. Most of you probably know the story, the small town, the nooses and the "white" tree. The incident has been intensely followed by many who have watched thorough coverage of the story on the news and have read about it through magazine and newspaper articles. A friend of mine even attended a protest in Chicago where she attends college, and there was a smaller demonstration on my college campus over 700 miles away. This is a national issue, people are paying attention. And though this example does not involve the death penalty, it does involve the unfairness of the justice system. It makes the idea much more tangible.

Theory: Why does the U.S. have the Death Penalty

Since 18th century BC, during the time the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon reigned supreme in China, there has been the existence of the death penalty. At the time, there were 25 different crimes listed to which death was a possible punishment. The first historically recorded execution was in 16th century BC where a man was sentenced to death for supposedly practicing magic in Egypt. Even then, at the very inception of the death penalty, there were different methods and procedures for the different classes and races of people.

Though the death penalty is being abolished across the world at a rate of three countries a year, the death penalty is still a part of present day American culture, and has been since 1608, when a man was executed for treason. Many people today, both southerners and northerners alike, are adamant in their support of the death penalty. Many feel that that the death penalty is supported by the bible, and many agree with it because of the deterrent affect it has on others—though this claim is debatable. The death penalty makes people feel secure; it makes them feel like the bad people of the world are being eradicated. They feel like they make a difference when they vote for someone who shares their support of the death penalty. The death penalty has become almost a cultural issue, if you're raised to believe in it, then you do. I feel that compromise could only be reached after people are more well informed and are no longer as ignorant about the subject. Many states have slowly begun to abolish the death penalty from their state constitutions. And though it is a state by state decision, it still remains a national issue.

One central argument with the death penalty is the belief by some that the institution of the death penalty is not fair or equal, and also, is it the government’s role to execute its citizens? Who’s to say who has the authority to decide when someone should die? Are we not just perpetuating the cycle of violence by violently killing violent offenders? These are questions at the center of the argument of the death penalty. Is the death penalty really effective in helping to keep us safe? Or is it just a cyclical cycle of violence that is self perpetuating?

Countless studies have undeniably shown that the odds of a person being sentenced to death are much higher if the defendant is a minority and the victim is white. In Georgia, an extensive 7 year study concluded that there is a staggering 4.3 times higher probability of getting the death penalty for murdering a white victim, than if the crimes were very similar, but the victim was black. In Mississippi, a similar, comparable study showed that a minority is as much as 5.5 times more likely to get the death penalty for murdering a white victim. Is this to say that a white person’s life has more value than a black person’s? That the punishment should be more severe for someone because of the color of the skin of the person that was killed? In the United States black men make up 47% of the people on death row, but only 6% of the total population. Conclude from this what you will.

There are multiple imperfections that contribute to the persistent problem of racism in the justice system. One of these factors is the small number of black district attorneys practicing in the main death penalty states. The figure to the right shows the extent to which minorities are under represented in this aspect of the justice system. Fair and accurate representation is imperative for the equal treatment of individuals.

The Department of Justice states that nearly 80% (of the people on death row waiting execution are minorities, and they also make up 74% of the cases where the federal prosecutors seek the death penalty. However it was NOT concluded that their crimes were statistically worse than the total amount of crimes committed. The system is unjust and it is unjust at every level. Blacks are discriminated against at every stage of the judicial process, from the police officers, to the judges in the court room, to the twelve person jury with one or two minorities. One main level of the system that needs to have immediate attention is the role of the prosecutor. This is perhaps the most important level when analyzing the problem of racial biases because this is where it is decided what sentence will be sought for the defendant. This is where the prosecutor decides whether or not to seek the death penalty. This is where it seems to be anything other than advantageous to be a minority.

In 1972 the courts realized that there were devastating flaws in the justice system and called for a moratorium on all executions until the system could be rectified. The reason for this drastic action was the realization that the death penalty was being dealt out in an arbitrary fashion. There were no definitive stipulations on who should receive the death penalty and it depended too much on chance and luck. Spotlighted problems included the statistic that prior to this moratorium 87% of the people sentenced to death for the crime of rape where black men with white victims. Also 100% of the people convicted of rape where charged with raping a white woman. No person who was sentenced to death was done so because they raped someone of color. Add to this the statistic that states that black women are 3 times as likely to be the victim of sexual assault and you find yourself in a conundrum. How can this be? It’s surely not that black women aren’t being raped, it’s that African Americans are being discriminated against. It seems as though the justice system does not value them as highly as they do whites.

Half of the people currently on death row waiting to die are black, 85% of them are there for killing someone who is white. This is not proportional with the number of blacks who have been killed. African Americans do not make up only 15% of the deaths. Since the first death sentence ruling there have been a total of approximately 18,000 executions in the United States, only 37 of those people were convicted of killing someone of color. Another truly astounding study I came upon dealt with the statistics of the death row inmates in the deep south of Alabama. The statistic said that “Although only 6% of all murders in Alabama are black-on-white, 60% of the black inmates on Alabama's death row are there for killing whites.” I can see no other explanation for this other than racism. I’m open to hearing any rationalization that you think of, but for me it appears to be blatant discrimination. The American Bar Association went as far as to call for a moratorium on the death penalty, stating that “Today, administration of the death penalty, far from being fair and consistent, is instead a haphazard maze of unfair practices with no internal consistency.” The death penalty is faulty. It is once again time to take a look at the evidence and see that the system needs to be abolished. The death penalty has been shown to not be a deterrent for criminals, but rather is a randomly applied punishment for those unlucky enough to be selected.

Statistically there is evidence to support the idea that the institution of the death penalty is not fair or just—that it is racist. People argue that it is not, that more blacks are sentenced to death because though they are only 14% of the population they commit more than 14% of the crimes. And while this is true, the proportions still do not add up, proportionally more blacks are given the death penalty. While I am against every aspect of the death penalty, I know that some of you are not, but my hope is that all of you are against racism; that you can see that the very heart of the death penalty is malevolent.

Death Penalty Quotes

The death penalty is essentially an arbitrary punishment. There are no objective rules or guidelines for when a prosecutor should seek the death penalty, when a jury should recommend it, and when a judge should give it. This lack of objective, measurable standards ensures that the application of the death penalty will be discriminatory against racial, gender, and ethnic groups. -Rev. Jesse Jackson (1996)

When people of color are killed in the inner city, when homeless people are killed, when the "nobodies" are killed, district attorneys do not seek to avenge their deaths. Black, Hispanic, or poor families who have a loved one murdered not only don't expect the district attorney's office to pursue the death penalty--which, of course, is both costly and time consuming--but are surprised when the case is prosecuted at all. -Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue. -Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1990

Even under the most sophisticated death penalty statutes, race continues to play a major role in determining who shall live and who shall die. -Justice Harry Blackmun, 1994

By reserving the penalty of death for black defendants, or for the poor, or for those convicted of killing white persons, we perpetrate the ugly legacy of slavery-- teaching our children that some lives are inherently less precious than others. -Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, former President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1989


"You escape the federal death penalty based on your race and residence. If you're an African American in Texas who commits a crime that could warrant the federal death penalty, you get it. If you're white in New York City, you probably don't." -Rev. Jesse Jackson

"Government ... can’t be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill" -Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking

A Little Bit About Me

Coming from a close minded small town in the south, to a large liberal public university has been a drastic change for me. Though my beliefs feel much more accepted here, I have found that some things have changed; one of those things being my apathy. Never having been forced to decide my stance on the death penalty for a particular reason, I had failed to do so. Both sides of the story have always made sense to me: sure, I think that it doesn't really seem like the governments role to judge who dies, but then again, if a family member of mine was murdered, would I want there to be the possibility that they would be put to death? As wishy washy as I once was, I am now the polar . I now can definitively say that I am strongly against the killing of individuals by the government. The institution is too flawed for there to be such an irreversible punishment available. There are racial issues, class issues, and regional issues, (which is referring to the large numbers killed in the south and not the north). Though I am against the death penalty for multiple reasons, I chose to polarize the issue of race as one of main reasons I am opposed to the death penalty.
I recently came upon an article in a New York Times archive that discussed the racial disparity in the sentencing of individuals, an example they pointed out is the difference in penalties for those convicted of using powdered cocaine, and those who use the less expensive crack cocaine. Those who use crack cocaine, meaning the lower class, majority black, get longer prison sentences. How is it not class discrimination when a different form of the same drug carries a worse punishment than another, it's like you're not quite as bad if you use the expensive powered cocaine. This is not just, fair, or "equal." Our constitution says that we are all created equally, but we are not treated this way.

Introduction

The death penalty is, and has been a controversial issue for decades. Every election year it is a topic for debate and discussion for the candidates; Republicans, who are usually in support of the death penalty, and Democrats who are generally against it.
Out justice system is flawed, and though there are countless reasons why I feel that the death penalty should be abolished, the main issue I will focus on is the disproportionate number of minorities killed in comparison to white Americans. Statistically African Americans are most often given the death penalty. I believe that this is not just a problem of racism, but also of classism. Generally those sentenced to death are of lower economic status and do not have the resources to pay for adequate representation. Often times court appointed lawyers are substandard compared to other lawyers who only work for the big bucks. The motivating factor of money is not there to drive them to succeed, they have nothing to lose. Race should not be a factor in determining death, and yet it is evident that color has an impact on the sentence of death. This needs to change; the underlying racism in the courts needs to disappear.