Essay, Research Paper: Death Penalty

Death: The end of life; the halting of all life functions; the cause of loss of life; the state of being dead; extinction.


Even the word death is said and heard with fear and anxiety. People fear death because it's both unknown and inevitable. This also brings into our mind fascination and fear. Whether death is good or bad all depends on one's individuals prospective on it. One can only imagine what inmates facing death row feel. I'm pretty sure they're not looking forward to it.

Cesare Beccaria wrote about the death penalty and I agree with most of the stuff that he has to say. I found some of the questions that he'd brought up were quite intriguing. Some of the questions that Cesare Beccaria asked were, "By what right can men presume to slaughter their fellows?" "Who has ever willingly given up to others the authority to kill them?" "How on earth can the minimum sacrifice of each individual's freedom involve handing over the greatest of all goods, life itself?" From reading Cesare Beccaria writings and listening to his questions I have brought up some of my own questions. On what grounds can a fellow member of the same society allow the death penalty to exist? When someone commits a crime are they giving up their freedom?

Another issue that Cesare Beccaria brought up was the discrimination in the death penalty. It seems that money, race, and geography play an important role in the final decision. Let me rephrase that, money, race, and geography play as an unjust method in which inmates are prosecuted and defended. I think money is the most obvious problem. In most death penalty cases, indigent defendants end up with court appointed lawyers. Most courts pay their court appointed lawyers 20 to 40 dollars an hour. Some states even limit the amount of compensation to 2000 dollars for court appointed lawyers. If this is the incentive that defense attorneys get to defend their defendant, what reason do they have to try their best? Studies show that to prepare a well organized criminal case an average lawyer needs to spend 600 hours in pre-trial preparation, 600 hours in court time, and 700 hours during direct appeal. If this study were true I would say that court appointed lawyers are getting way under paid. Under paid lawyers lead to poor people getting deprived law assistance. "Over half of the death row inmates in six southern states had been represented by lawyers who had never before handled a capital case". (Survey by National Law Journal) Cesare Beccaria asks "what are these laws which I have to obey, which leave such a gulf between me and the rich man?" I say that laws are made by the rich to protect the rich. I can understand Beccaria's way of questioning, often finding myself asking the same questions as he does.

Another issue that comes to mind is race. African Americans constitute 12 percent of the United States population. Yet, 36 percent of death row inmates are black. This alone sounds unbelievable but there is something that I found even more profound. Almost all the death sentences, which are 82 percent, involve white victims. I found it alarming that a person who commits a crime against a white person is more likely to get the death penalty while a person committing a crime against a black person wouldn't. What does this mean? Does this mean it's better off killing a black person? A study done by the United States General Accounting Office reviewed the 28 existing studies on race and death penalty. They concluded that there was a "pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging sentencing and imposition of the death penalty". It also showed that "those who murdered whites were more likely to be sentenced to the death than those who murdered blacks". How could our society be failing us so bad? Our way of living is supposed to be one of the best in the world and yet we let these statistics prove us wrong. To even imagine that you have a better chance to get away with murder if the victim is black is just total nonsense. If one of the reasons for the death penalty is deterrence, what deters others from killing blacks if they won't get the death penalty. I believe life is life and that all life was created equal so I say the punishment should be equal as well, for all people.

The last issue that I wanted to bring up was something that Cesare Beccaria didn't bring up. I believe that the state or county that the person is tried in and convicted in plays a huge role. This is so because each state or county have there own way of justice. Each differs in the way in which they determine capital crime. Connecticut, for example, along with Kansas, has a very low death sentence. Compared to theses two Texas and California have an overwhelming amount of death row inmates. Connecticut and Kansas has a total of only 7 inmates on death row. On the other hand, Texas has 443 and California has 513 death row inmates. According to these statistics one would believe that people in Texas and California commit more severe murders but this is not true. The states in the Deep South actually hand down more death sentences than those in the rest of the country. There can be numerous reasons for this. The prosecutors can be more aggressive, especially if they are running for some kind of office. It's pretty unfair for them to use this as a political issue but it happens. Another reason can be that the state or county has a more strict way of sentencing than others.

Some states even execute people at the age of 16. While others like us, execute people at the age of 18. Some states allow the execution of mentally retarded inmates, while others don't. Some states, like ours have life without parole, while others don't. The problem that I see with this issue is that people/jurors don't know the alternative that they have besides the death penalty. They don't know that they can give that person life without parole. The most important fact is that when inmates are faced with the choice of death or life without parole, most choose life without parole. If they want life without parole, who are we to decide the fate of a man's life?

In conclusion our justice system is and cannot be just if everyone isn't considered an equal. Is our justice system so unjust that murders with a deep pocket can walk away scot-free? Is it fare that killing a white is more punishable than killing a black? If this were true, I would believe that most of the people on death row deserve a fair trial in a fair state with a highly experienced defense attorney. I believe that the most important thing in life is life and that everything should be done to preserve life.