RUNNING HEAD: Executions pg. 1 Inmate Executions COR 120_191 Mia Lombardi Tiffin University RUNNING HEAD: Executions pg. 2 The question of the constitutionality of the sentencing of an inmate on Death Row in Texas is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court and found in favor of defendant Duane Buck. The basis of the appeal and review is on whether the defendant 's sentencing was based on racially discriminatory testimony given by a psychologist during his trial. This paper will focus on the United States Supreme Court case Buck vs. Stevens and the constitutional …show more content…
The aforementioned case brings about an interesting and sobering question about racial discrimination and bias and its role in the courtroom. In this instance, the defendant Duane Buck was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend, and her friend in front of their young children. During the cases, sentencing hearing the defendant called upon a psychologist (Quijano) who stated, under oath that “It’s a sad commentary that minorities, Hispanics, and black people, are overrepresented in the criminal justice system”. The prosecutor followed that by asking “The race factor, black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons — is that correct?” To which Quijano responded, “yes”. With the bar for execution being that the defendant needed to be shown to be a danger to society the testimony of the psychologist stating that a person 's race is a deciding factor in predicting future violent acts clearly brings the question of race into the supreme court. The appeal states “the latent association of African Americans with violence continues to distort perceptions of reality and result in racially biased assessments—and the risk of such bias is especially acute in death penalty proceedings. The Constitution, however, forbids racial stereotypes from affecting the administration of justice, expressly
In McClesky v. Kemp the Supreme Court held that a study showing the death penalty in Georgia was imposed on black defendants disproportionately to white defendants failed to establish that any of the decision makers involved in the process acted with a discriminatory purpose. McClesky is a notable case in several respects. First, it highlighted the integrated nature of the criminal justice system and how each component functions to reach a certain result. Second, it emphasized the debate on which actors in the justice system have the most power and what role that power plays in reaching the result. Third, the case also underscored the importance on prosecutors keeping records of their decisions at varying stages of the criminal justice process.
This was particularly true in cases where Brown was accused of being involved in prison riots or other violent incidents. In these cases, the evidence was often based on the testimony of other inmates or correction officers, which could be unreliable due to the complex power dynamics of prison life. Another factor that influenced the outcome of Brown’s trial was the biases of the jurors. In many of his trials, Brown was an African American man facing a predominantly white jury. This created a significant potential for racial bias, which could influence the jurors’ perceptions of the evidence and the defendant.
This says that at almost every level of the Criminal Justice System there is racial discrimination against Black Americans. The Criminal Justice System is racially biased. The Criminal Justice System is even prejudice from the very beginning of the imprisonment process.
The author’s studies indicate that the criminal justice system choose majority of their targets and suspects predominantly by race. According to studies conducted by the U. S Department of Justice, the imprisonment rate by race per 100,000 residents over 3,000 black males were imprisoned in the year 2000 compared to white males imprisonment rate of less than 500. This shows that conviction of crime, robbery, murder, and other violence and drug related crimes has a clear discrepancy across racial groups.
In previous occasions, the state of Texas has been known for being different with regard to gun control and stand your grounds. In this occasion, however, it has to do with the judges. Texas is one of many states that give the residents the ability to choose who will be the judges, unlike most states where the governor has final say (Horwitz, 2014). In other words, the decision of the judge all depends on the people of the lone star state. The political point of view has an influence as well.
Source A argues that disparities between blacks and whites have been appalling in court. According to Source A, “If a black person kills a white person, they are twice as likely to receive the death sentence as white person who kills a black person” (2). This reveals that a black person has a higher rate of receiving the death sentence when tried for murdering a white person. If a white person is tried for a killing of a black person they have a 50% chance of getting the death sentence, then that means that a black person would receive a 100% chance of getting the death sentence for killing a white person.
The Johnson v. California 2004 Supreme Court case, questioning a prison’s policy to segregate inmates by race, remonstrated by prison officials stating: “that the practice reduces racially motivated violence” (Racial Segregation in Prison). This exposes a biased stereotype of African-American men, making the assumption that they are easily subject to gang violence; therefore, they are unjustly separated from others based on their race and the presumption they are inherently violent. Within this prison, “When cell assignments are made, the inmates are divided into four general categories: black, white Asian, and other” (Racial Segregation in Prison).
Linguistic bias can have a significant impact on legal outcomes in jury trials. Valerie Fridland's argument highlights the importance of recognising and addressing linguistic bias in the judicial system to ensure fairness and equal treatment. This essay examines the ways the judicial system can prevent potential linguistic bias from influencing court outcomes. According to Valerie Fridland, recognizing and eliminating potential language bias is essential to guaranteeing fair and reasonable judicial proceedings. She contends that prejudice toward African-American English speakers can influence the results of jury trials.
During the jurisdiction process of Jefferson there were a lot of instance of a racially biased Justice system. The white prosecutor proclaims, “When the old man and the other two robbers were all Dead, this one—it proved the kind
“In Baston v. Kentucky decided in April 1986, the court ruled that’s prosecutors could be required to provide a race neutral explanation when their use of peremptory challenges to strike black potential jurors raised an inference of discrimination” (Linda Greenhouse, 2015). An example shows that in a criminal case in Floyd County, Ga, the prosecution struck all the black potential jurors. One woman was struck because she was told her “age” was too close to the defendant. She was 34 and the defendant was 19. Another juror was struck because his son was convicted of stealing hubcaps from a
Texas Death Penalty Controversy Introduction Texas has a long history of using the death penalty as a form of punishment for serious criminal offenses. The state has carried out the most executions of any state in the United States since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, with a total of 570 executions as of September 2021. This paper will examine the history of the death penalty in Texas, the process of imposing and carrying out a death sentence, and the controversies surrounding the use of the death penalty in the state's criminal justice system. History of the Death Penalty in Texas Texas has a long history of using the death penalty as a form of punishment. The state carried out its first execution in 1819 when George Brown
Peremptory Challenges are Ruining the Justice System Cassidy Watson, an African American male, has been wrongfully accused in the state of Alabama of murdering 10-year-old Mya Morris. Today, he sits within a courtroom awaiting his hearing to begin. Moments pass, and the plaintiff’s lawyer has struck a juror from the jury; this juror is the only African American seated at the mostly Caucasian jury. In response, the judge asks the lawyer to explain why he struck the juror. The lawyer stated that the African American woman was “too vocal about her opinions.”
Coker gives great evidence that supports racial injustice in the criminal justice system. She discusses on the Supreme Court’s rulings and accusations of racial preference in the system. This article is helpful because it supports my thesis on race playing a role on the system of criminal justice. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (1997). Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes.
The death penalty is a controversial issue that has been debated in the United States for a long period of time. In our own state of Texas, executing convicted criminals has become second nature. This is due to the fact that Texas has executed more people than any other state in the United States since 1976. So why does Texas lead the United States in executions? There are many reasons and factors that has led to this point.
Another issue that was discussed is the inequality of death penalty in practice. There have been serious issues with racial discrimination. For reference in cases with white victims and black defendants convictions occurred twenty two percent of the time while with black victims and white defendants with percentage dropped to a measly three