Capital Punishment Thesis Statement

While many opponents argue the economics of the issue, they fail to acknowledge that the main goals of punishment are to correct behavior that is deviant from the law and to prevent similar incidences from occurring. Without capital punishment, the culprits would not have to confront the potential of death, meaning that the marginal cost of violent crime would be diminished. Therefore, capital punishment is an effective method to deter

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Criminal Justice Stevenson through his book has provided various examples that show that people of color and low-income individuals are more likely to be presumed fully prior to presenting their cases. The author has stated that executions are a good example of how norms and policies are used for the purposes of punishing and controlling the people of color For instance, he argues that one in three black people are expected to be sent to jail in their lifetime. Further on, eighty percent of people on death row are black while 65 percent of homicide victims are black.

African Americans face harsher circumstances in death row sentencing’s than any other race. In a study published in 2009 by Scott Phillips, a University of Denver sociology and criminology professor, conducted research between 1992 and 1999 in Harris County, Texas when an astonishing “504 defendants were indicted for capital murder” (O’Hare, 2010). At the end of his research, Phillips found that “convicted capital murderers were six times more likely to get a death sentence when they killed married whites or Hispanics with college degrees and no criminal record — as opposed to unmarried black or Asian victims with records and no college degrees” (2010). Phillip’s study proves that death row sentencing is bias as African Americans were more likely to be put on death row if their victim was of a higher social class than them. Florida’s death penalty sentencing in recent years has been extreme.

Since the beginning of history, the death penalty has been utilized as a means of punishment for a crime. Capital punishment has taken on multiple forms and been used as punishment wide range of crimes; from stealing to murder. Questions and theories have risen that suggest that the penal system is racially biased when considering punishment and deciding when the death penalty is a congruent punishment to the crime committed. In David Gilboa’s report entitled, “Is the Death Penalty in America Racist?” Gilboa analyzes and studies three common conceptions on the death penalty and how it pertains to the African American race and Caucasian race.

The color of the skin of the victim or defendant is a significant and unacceptable factor in determining who gets the death penalty in America. We have no knowledge of how a person may think, and giving a judge and jury the power to decide on someone's life can result in unfair judgments. “Today, there is growing evidence that racial bias continues in society, particularly within the criminal justice system. The existence of implicit racial bias among some law enforcement officers, witnesses, jurors, and others allows harsher punishment of minorities, even without legal sanction or intention. Although these prejudices are hard to uproot, the unfair application of the death penalty could be halted by eliminating that sentencing option altogether”(Dunham).

Very few criminals really get deterred by the death penalty. A Bristol prison chaplain says that, “...out of 167 condemned criminals whom he had interviewed, only three had not witnessed an execution” (Weil 2013). The criminals sentenced to death row were not deterred by the death penalty, even though almost all of them have witnessed a hanging. Capital punishment is not an effective way to deter criminals, since the prospect of spending one’s entire life behind bars sounds even worse. The criminals who think they can get away with their crimes, also think that they will not be executed if convicted.

Forty years have gone by and I think it’s finally time we acknowledge the inconvenient truth; Capital punishment is not a fair means of punishment and disproportionately affects minorities. In the landmark Supreme Court case McCleskey v. Kemp, a study conducted by David Baldus, a late Iowa Law Professor, concluded that black defendants indicted for murder were convicted nearly twice as much as white defendants and black defendants who killed white people received the death penalty four times more often than black defendants who killed other black people. This argument was a highlight of the case, but did not stop the Supreme Court from ignoring the statistics regarding racial bias in capital punishment cases. A vote of 5-4 ruled that tendencies

George Woodworth once examined the death penalty rates among all death eligible defendants in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between the years of 1983 and 1993. The results of their study proved that the odds of receiving the death penalty in Philadelphia increased by 38% when the accused was black. (“Race and the Death Penalty | American Civil Liberties Union”) This shows that the justice system is biased and proves that a black person is more likely to receive a death punishment for committing the same crime as a white person. Another example of discrimination is when death penalties are given to those that are poor and grow up in underprivileged backgrounds.

It leaves those in marginalized groups to be more inclined to receive not only a prosecution or arrest but severe punishments such as the death penalty for the same crimes. Prejudice and racial bias “have created a system that is defined by error, a system in which thousands of innocent people now suffer in prison”(Stevenson,16). The unjust impact of the justice system is not limited to prison. Black defendants are four times more likely to receive the death penalty than a non-Black person whose situation is similar (“NACDL - Race and the Death Penalty”). The influence of racial biases in our justice system makes it increasingly hard or even impossible to truly make an impartial decision on an irreversible punishment.

This report is helpful because it highlights how race is influenced on the death penalty. It will help me see if the death penalty is racially neutral. Coker, D. (2003). Addressing the real world of racial injustice in the criminal justice system. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.

Support for capital punishment requires valuing retribution over rehabilitation. Those who favor capital punishment value highly the closure it provides to the families of the victims, and they believe that it deters would be murderers from killing. Retribution, closure and deterrence are the main reasons in favor of the death penalty. Opponents of capital punishment generally believe that it is hypocritical and immoral for the state

Deterrence and the Death Penalty: The Views of the Experts. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 87(1), 1. doi:10.2307/1143970 This article was written by Michael L. Radelet and Ronald L. Akers. They both consulted experts on criminology and criminal behaviour to evaluate the effectiveness of the Death Penalty.

Ensuring that an individual is in fact guilty of a crime is so important to avoid causing psychological damage onto individuals and then releasing them back into the community. These individuals find it difficult to readjust back into the community and often must seek mental health services to help heal from severe psychological symptoms. Johnson & Engstrom (2020) reported psychological themes such as PTSD, hyperarousal, avoidance of stimuli, flashbacks, depression, sense of loss, institutionalized behaviors, and more in their study when asking participants about mental health symptoms. It is important to remember that these were reported themes and not actual diagnoses set by the authors. While these symptoms were reported by the participants themselves, it is not appropriate for the researchers to claim these are diagnoses for the wrongfully convicted

Because of this, the United States as a united people must find the best solution to the growing issue of the effectiveness of the death penalty as capital punishment. In “The Republican Party, Conservatives, and the Future of Capital Punishment,” the issue of the death penalty’s effectiveness is expanded on in evaluating how political affiliations determine a criminal’s life or death. The eighth ammendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Constitution). With the few people that survived the lethal injection, all of them said the same thing.

There is a worldwide trend in the use of penal imprisonment for serious offenses as capital punishment has been renounced by an increasing number of countries. Harsh punishments include capital punishment, life imprisonment and long-term incarceration. These forms of punishments are usually used against serious crimes that are seen as unethical, such as murder, assault and robbery. Many people believe that harsher punishments are more effective as they deter would-be criminals and ensure justice is served. Opposition towards harsh punishments have argued that harsher punishments does not necessarily increase effectiveness because they do not have a deterrent effect, do not decrease recidivism rates and do not provide rehabilitation.