Many feel it is unjust, for three main reasons: it often punishes innocent people, convicts are often subjected to prejudice, and statistics show that the abolishment of the death penalty lowers the crime rate. ... In America's history, in the over 18,000 convictions of capital punishment, only thirty-seven were of a white person being punished for the murder of an African-American. Also, despite the fact that African-Americans constitute only 12% of the national population ("Five"), they comprise 43.1 percent of the prisoners on death row ("Death"). In fact, a comprehensive study in Ge...

• Word Count: 858
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

According to The Bureau of Justice statistics and history on the death penalty, in 1967 the Supreme Court ceased all executions until a ruling could be made on the constitutionality of capital punishment, in particular whether it could be considered cruel and unusual punishment, thus violating the constitution. The Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment did not violate the constitution and in 1976 America saw the reinstatement of the death penalty. ... The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) addresses the issue on their website with the following statement. ... Although the debate wa...

• Word Count: 2477
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

There have been studies done that include statistics on how and why capital punishment is considered racially and socioeconomically bias. ... For example, "Thirty-four percent of those executed in America since 1974 have been black, while African Americans represent only 13% of the general population" (Mears, 2008). ... Because most of the overall population are underneath the poverty line, police along with society seem to believe that that's where the most crimes occur. ... This seems to initiate that in most cases the targets of race are African American and Hispanics/Latinos...

• Word Count: 2043
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Thomas Graunger, the first juvenile known to be executed in America, was tried and found guilty of bestiality in 1642 in Plymouth Colony, MA. ... There are currently 83 death row inmates (all male) sentenced as juveniles constituting about 2.25% of the total death row population. ... The development of sentencing and program options for juvenile capital offenders is difficult in light of the lack of knowledge about this small population. ...

• Word Count: 2175
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate