Death Penalty and Minorities

Paper Summary:

The paper reveals the high African-American crime rates and notes that they appear to be a result of their socioeconomic status in their respective communities. The paper explores the patterns in death-sentencing practices in the United States and illustrates through several cases that a death sentence depends not so much on the crime as on where it was committed and who committed it. The paper clearly shows how African Americans are punished more severely than whites and the poor more severely than the rich.

From the Paper:

"Discussions and debate over the death penalty, regardless of sex, race or national origin, span throughout the centuries. However, the most prominent cases concerning African Americans have been between the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries (e.g. Furman v Georgia 1972; McCleskey v. Kemp 1987). Quite often a death sentence depends not so much on the crime as on where it was committed and who committed it.
"Cottrol (2004) questions the reasons "slaves and indentured servants, or for that matter ordinary free citizens" attended executions. Was it because they also accepted the moral precepts offered by the representatives of Church and State on such occasions? Did they attend because it was clear that society's legal and ecclesiastical leaders deemed large-scale public participation important, and ordinary people, particularly those on the bottom of the social pyramid, were reluctant to offend their betters? (Cottrol, 2004)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• "African American." (2006). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 31 Jul 2006. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=African_American&oldid=66922598.
• Baldus, D. (1990). Equal justice and the death penalty: A legal and empirical analysis. Boston: Northeastern University Press..
• Beck, A. J. and Bonczar, T. P. (1997). "Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison." Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics.
• Cottrol, R. J. (2004). "The Death Penalty: An American History." Stanford Law Review 56.6 (2004): 1641+.
• Death Penalty Information Center (2006). Retrieved July 31, 2006 from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/.

More papers on Death Penalty and Minorities:

• Term Paper # 60934 : "The Death Penalty and Minors"
• Persuasive Essay # 56250 : "Death Penalty and Racism"
• Research Paper # 109734 : "Death Penalty and Race"

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