Death Penalty: Class, Race, Gender, and Crime - Research Paper Example

No: Death Penalty: Race, Gender and Crime Death penalty is not a new concept and has its roots in the ancient era. However, who should be given the punishment of death penalty has changed over time and the crimes for which, this punishment is given have also changed. In various countries of the world, death penalty is given for diverse reasons. These reasons include murder, rape, adultery, arson attack, terrorism and so on. The justice systems in various countries have analyzed the reasons for penalizing the criminals. The analysts have found discrimination in terms of class, race and gender while giving death penalty to criminals due to which, there were movements regarding abolition of death penalty wholly. However, death penalty is given for heinous crimes and should not be wholly abolished as it will exempt the fear from the heart of criminal minded people and they will be prone to enjoy liberty in doing crimes. This paper will analyse death penalty in relation to minorities related to different class structures and races, and women on death row. Further, we will also talk about abolition of death penalty. The system of death penalty in many countries around the world is somewhat flawed as the people who are allocated to die for their crime are selected not through justice for all, but through racist motives. The people who usually get the death penalty or are placed on death row belong mostly to the minorities or poor classes of a society. In US, the African Americans and poor people usually face death penalty (Guernsey 7). The criminals who are sentenced to death are kept in special facilities called death row. These death rows are separated from the rest of the prisons (Guernsey 24). Many analysts support death penalty while others deny it altogether. The supporters find the system not racist while others regard it racist. The death penalty cases involving African American defendants are decided by white juries and attorneys who show their belief in death penalty. However, when the cases of white defendants are decided, they usually get less than death penalty. This is not the case always, but mostly the system papers racist (Guernsey 83). White population in US is the minority in terms of being punished with death penalty, however, African Americans form the greatest total of those receiving death penalty after the 17th century (Allen, et al 15). In case of analysis of gender in getting death penalty, it is quite clear that women faced lesser chances of getting death penalty than men. Prior to 1945, women out of those given death penalty were only three percent. In the 17th century, thirty nine women were executed, ninety eight women in the 18th century, one hundred and seventy eight women in the 19th century and before 1945, in the 20th century, only twenty nine women were executed (Allen, et al 15). Therefore, the ratio of men offenders who were given death penalty was far more than women. The women who were executed in total were fifty seven percent African Americans, thirty five percent white Americans, six percent of unknown or minority’s ethnicity and two percent of other minority’s ethnicity (Allen, et al 15). In total, African Americans that were given death penalty were ten times or more times more as compared to white Americans (Allen, et al 123). Considering death penalty as racist or discriminatory, efforts were made to abolish it wholly as a result of which, the punishment of death penalty of many criminals was transformed to life imprisonment. In UK, between 1900 and 1949, one thousand and eighty men and one hundred and thirty women were on death row, but the punishment of forty percent men and ninety percent women was converted to life imprisonment in place of death penalty (Hood & Hoyle 43). Women are stated ineligible to get death penalty in some countries such as the case of Russia and US can be noticed to categorize female as ineligible for getting death penalty. However, the supporters of death penalty argue that women and men should be treated equally and there should be no gender discrimination in giving punishment to women. Since 1984, nearly ten women are executed in USA and eleven women since 1976. The year 2005 was the last year to be remembered regarding woman execution in USA and since then, there were no female executions. Nevertheless, nearly fifty women are on a death row since the year 2006 (Hood & Hoyle 196). Some of the analysts elaborate that the conditions in a death row are not destructive for female offenders mentally and psychologically, however, this notion is rejected by American Civil Liberties Union. The Union categorizes death row giving practical seclusion that result in medical conditions such as psychosis, psychological stresses and mental illnesses (Hood & Hoyle 179). Along with gender discrimination, racial discrimination is also highlighted by people asking for abolishment of death penalty. The state laws have granted prosecutors and juries to decide differently for similar crimes for people belonging to different ethnicity. The defendants who are guilty of same crime are given diverse punishment as per the wishes of attorneys and juries. The race of the victim or the defendants race affects the situation altogether. The years of slavery witnessed state laws in the favour of white population and against slaves whether they were slaves or emancipated Blacks. There were strict punishments for the black for their crimes against white citizens (Baldus, et al 1643). This can be regarded as the root cause of racial discrimination in the justice system in US. The issue is not that the juries and attorneys punish innocent people with death penalties based on their minority status or race, but because of racial motivations to punish the minorities more as compared to the majorities. The crime is of heinous nature and must be punished, but this punishment should be the same for white as well as black people. For example, the case of McMillian v. State can be noticed as the one that was racially motivated. Walter McMillian was an African American and was given death penalty because of murdering a white woman. The law enforcement officials created false proofs for making sure that he got death penalty (Baldus, et al 1650). If we believe in America’s just justice system dealing with minorities and majority the same, even then the figures of African Americans in the jails and on death row are alarming about fairness of justice system. The black population make a total of thirteen percent in the whole US representing themselves as a minority, while their presence on death row is nearly forty one percent of the total population on death row making them a majority on the death row (Baldus, et al 1651). In Philadelphia, eighty four percent of Black are on the death row indicating towards the racism and unfairness of the court system there (Dieter). The 14th Amendment prohibits ‘purposeful discrimination’ by government officials and these officials include the officials working in the court system. Therefore, as per the law, they should not decide on death penalties considering the status of criminal, his class, gender or race in taking decisions as it comes under purposeful discrimination (Baldus, et al 1653). A survey was conducted in 1996 analyzing cases in Kentucky death row and it came to consideration that all the people on death row were there for murdering whites and not a single one was there for murdering a black citizen. However, since the reinstatement of death penalty in Kentucky, more than thousand African Americans got murdered in Kentucky. Considering such racial discrepancies, “Racial Justice Act” became part of legislature in the year 1998. According to this act, a death sentence can be challenged based on its racial discrimination (Dieter). The criminals getting death penalty are not innocent people and must be punished. However, they should be treated equally as white people. They should not be given death penalties and should not be kept on death rows based on their class, race and their minority status, but their crime and white population should receive the same punishment for similar crimes. The lives of black people are as valuable as those of white (Dieter). Researches indicate towards racial discrimination in giving death penalties to Blacks and they form the majority of death row in US. Considering this notion, the authorities in US legal system should ensure that racial discrimination gets completely vanished from the justice system and decisions are taken justly. Death penalty is not a negligible punishment as the criminals have to live on death rows separated from the rest of prisons in secluded cells. The critics of death penalty found it to be racially discriminating as minorities and lower classes have to face more death penalties and they form the majority of death rows. Gender discrimination can also be seen in giving death penalties because fewer women receive this punishment as compared to men. Overall, the justice system needs re-evaluation and should be fair completely for everyone. Works Cited Allen, Howard W., Clubb, Jerome M. and Lacey, Vincent A. Race, Class, and the Death Penalty. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2008. Print. Baldus, David C., Woodworth, G., Zuckerman, D. and Weiner, N. A. "Racial discrimination and the death penalty in the post-Furman era: An empirical and legal overview with recent findings from Philadelphia." Cornell Law Review 83 (6) (1998): 1638-1770. Dieter, Richard C. The Death Penalty In Black And White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides. Death Penalty Information Center, 1998. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. Guernsey, JoAnn Bren. Death Penalty: Fair Solution Or Moral Failure?. Twenty-First Century Books, 2010. Print. Hood, Roger G., and Hoyle, Carolyn. The death penalty: A worldwide perspective. Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Read More