|
“...A CAPITAL OR OTHERWISE INFAMOUS CRIME...” “... NOR BE DEPRIVED OF LIFE
... WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW...” THE DEATH PENALTY UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION BY
PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND RIDDING THE COUNTRY OF OFFENDERS WITH “DUE PROCESS OF
LAW.” From 1882 through 1951 there were 4,730 recorded lynchings by vigilantes
in the U.S, with many of them being highly public affairs. Even when miscreants
were afforded a trial and executed in accordance with law, such events were
often local in nature.
For example, while states such as New York electrocuted
condemned prisoners at Sing Sing’s electric chair as early as the late 19th
century, in states such as Missouri hangings were conducted at local county
jails as late as 1937. The race and the crime seem to play a huge role in the
determination of the sentencing. For example if a black male had stolen like a
candy bar out of a store, and got 10 years, that proves its more than likely an
issue of race than the crime.
But also if a black man murders someone, the death
penalty is probably going to be a sentence, and a sentence of justice in my
opinion. In a lot of state death penalty cases, the race of the victim is much
more important than the prior criminal record of the defendant, or the actual
circumstances of the crime. A study by the Bureau of Justice stated that more
than one-half of people the people on death row are of color. Race and the crime
are a very important factor in determining who is going to be sentenced to die.
Several studies have been shown that the role of race in the death penalty, they
include a study in 1990, a report from the General Accounting Office that stated
that in 82 of the cases reviewed the race of the victim was found to influence
the punishment for the crime. A black man who kills a white person is 11 times
more likely to receive a death sentence than if a white person kills a black
stated John Monty of the Bureau of Justice.
And of blacks, which kill blacks,
they even have less to worry about; it's almost like saying, oh, well, he needed
killing anyhow! In 1991, in Texas, blacks made up 12% of the population, but 48%
of the prison population and 55.5% of those on death row are black says the
death penalty information center. Since 1988, the federal government has
reviewed 92 death penalty cases.
Of these cases; 56 defendants were black, 11
were Hispanic, 5 were Asian, and 20 were Caucasian. From 1930 through 1989,
3,939 people were executed in the United States, and 54% of them were black. In
my opinion, the death penalty is a must. Baring in mind that the idea of putting
another human to death is hard to completely fathom. The physical mechanics
involved in the act of execution are easy to grasp, but the emotions involved in
carrying out a death sentence on another person, regardless of how much they
deserve it, is beyond my own understanding. I know it must be painful,
dehumanizing, and sickening. However, this act is sometimes necessary and it is
our responsibility
|
