The Racial Bias of Capital Punishment in America Essay -- Argumentativ

The Racial Bias of Capital Punishment in America   Ã‚   Throughout history, minorities have been ill-represented in the criminal justice system, particularly in cases where the possible outcome is death.   In early America, blacks were lynched for the slightest violation of informal laws and many of these killings occured without any type of due process.   As the judicial system has matured, minorities have found better representation but it is not completely unbiased.   In the past twenty years strict controls have been implemented but the system still has symptoms of racial bias.   This racial bias was first recognized by the Supreme Court in   Fruman v. Georgia, 408 U.S.   238 (1972).   The Supreme Court Justices decide that the death penalty was being handed out unfairly and according to Gest (1996) the Supreme Court felt the death penalty was being imposed â€Å"freakishly' and ‘wantonly† and â€Å"most often on blacks.†Ã‚   Several years later in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the Supreme Court decided, with efficient controls, the death penalty could be used constitutionally.   Yet, even with these various controls, the system does not effectively eliminate racial bias.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Since Gregg v. Georgia the total   population of all 36 death rows has grown as has the number of judicial controls used by each state.   Of the 3,122 people on death row   41% are black while 48% are white (Gest, 1996, 41).   This figure may be acceptable at first glance but one must take into account the fact that only 12% of the U.S. population is black (Smolowe, 1991, 68).   Carolyn Snurkowski of the Florida attorney generals office believes that the disproportionate number of blacks on death row... ...nfined† (As cited in Lacayo, 1987, 80).   With great effort, the judicial controls can begin to battle the racial bias of Americas Judicial system but to completely eliminate such a bias, the people involved in the judicial process must learn to look past the race of the offender or the value of the victim, and instead focus on circumstances of the crime.    References    Gest, T.   (1986 Oct. 20).   Black-and-White Issue?   US News & World Report,   101 (16), 24-25.    Gest, T.   (1996 July 8).   A house without a blueprint.   US News & World Report, 121 (2), 41-42.    Lacayo, R.   (1987, May 4).   Clearing a Path to the Chair.   Time, 129 (18), 80.    Seligman, D.   (1994, September 5).   Uh oh! More Stats.   Fortune, 130 (5), 113-114.    Smolowe, J. (1991, April 29).   Race and the Death Penalty.   Time, 137 (17), 68-69.