Bias Against Minorities in Death Penalty Sentences.

¶ … bias against minorities in death penalty sentences. The writer uses a research approach to analyze this hypothesis. One of the things the writer does is critique literature that has already been published about the topic. At that point the writer discusses the literature's impact and validity and draws an independent conclusion. There were seven sources used to complete this paper.

America has waffled on the topic of capital punishment since the nation's infancy. There are some eras in which the nation's people stood firmly behind the death penalty and believed the adage "an eye for an eye," while at other times the voters have stopped the allowance of execution as a punishment. With each change there are those who are advocates and those who are detractors from the principle itself. Whether or not the death penalty is a viable solution for crime diversion is still under debate. In addition to the use of the death penalty being debated there is a large debate in America about the bias shown to whites when it comes to the use of the death penalty. Many people believe that the minority and the poor in this country are executed at a far more frequent rate than their white counterparts.

America uses the death penalty as a punishment for the worst imaginable crimes that are committed by the criminals. Once a defendant is found guilty of a capital crime the sentencing often has perimeters that include the death penalty as one of the options. The death penalty is not always handed down. There are other options such as life without parole, life with the possibility of parole or other time to be served. The prosecution presents not only the case but when the prosecution wants the defendant to receive the death penalty they let the court know at the outset that this is the desire of the prosecutory office. In recent years there has been much focus on the seeming inequality of the death penalty sentences being handed down. Groups who study the statistics and cases insist that the majority of those who have historically been put to death have been poor non-white defendants. Those who are white and are convicted have more of a chance of receiving prison time than death according to those who study the statistics.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether or not there is a bias shown to blacks and other minorities when compared to their white counterparts and whether or not the poverty level of the defendant is also a factor in the sentencing severity.

In addition the poverty level of the defendant is often a factor in whether or not the death penalty is imposed. If the hypothesis proves out to be true there are several factors that may be contributing to the situation. Poverty is one of the factors that is believed to be a contributing factor to the bias in the death penalty being used. If one is affected by their wealth it might have something to do with their ability to hire council. Often times one who lives at or below the poverty level cannot afford to hire an attorney. This means that they are given or appointed a public defender by the court system. Public defenders are often overworked and underpaid which leaves them little time to get as involved in each case as they need to in order to present a solid defense. Many times the public defenders off ice is filled to capacity with work and the court appoints an attorney who is not a public defender and simply is ordered to handle the case. In either of these situations the defendant often has a hurried case with an uninformed attorney for representation. This can cause the case to not be presented or argued as stringently as might happen with a paid attorney. With the studies and research that has been done in the past it appears that there is a high probability that minorities are given the death penalty more often than their white counterparts. The factors for this happening may be poverty levels as well as racism itself.

If the research proves this to be true the changes must come at the level of the court room. The defendants who are living in poverty of or minority descent must be given more appropriate counsel for their defense. There must be money provided to properly collect evidence, hire expert witnesses and be able to conduct testing for evidential purpose. In addition the nation as a whole must demand that the playing field be more equal. This can be done through funding changes as well as the public getting more insistant on it.