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A Contemporary Look At Capital Punishment In America Today

A Contemporary Look at Capital Punishment in America Today
Capital punishment is a form of punishment that dates back as far as the eighteenth century B.C. It is a form of punishment that is irreversible. The abolitionist movement to cease the use of capital punishment received a big push in 1767. Cesare Beccaria's essay, "On Crime and Punishment" explained why there was no justification for the state to take a life. Since its reinstatement back in the United States in 1977, there have been 1004 executions ("Capital Punishment 2004" 9; "Capital Punishment Statistics" Para. 1). Besides being inhumane abolitionists see capital punishment as a politically fueled bias punishment. This report examines abolitionist views on race bias, deterrence effect, and cost.
Abolitionists believe an underground bias exists in our Criminal Justice system that makes a fair playing ground impossible in deciding who should receive the death penalty. Race has become an issue in who receives capital punishment. Amnesty International reported in 2003 that out of 845 death row inmates, between January 1977 and 10 April 2003, 53 percent were whites convicted of killing whites and 10 percent were blacks convicted of killing blacks (Amnesty International 2). Concerning interracial crimes, reports reveal bias in the outcome of a trial and the race of the victim. As of 21 September 2006, there have been 213 capital punishment convictions where the offender was black and the victim was white, while only fourteen cases have involved a white defendant and a black victim ("Race of Death Row" Para.3). These statistical differences imply that if the victim is white the chances of receiving the death penalty increase tremendously.
Deborah Fins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) reports, as of 1 July 2006, the following statistics concerning the race of the victim in capital punishment cases: whites 79.35%, Black 13.91%, Latino 4.55%, Native...