death penalty- con
...auritius, Ozambique, South Africa, Canada, Paraguay, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and more..) Doesn't this leave you wondering why so many countries have abolished the death penalty? There are many reasons. First it has been proven that the death penalty is racist. African Americans are 12% of the U.S population, but are 43% of the prisoners on death row. Although blacks constitute 50% of all murder victims, 83% of the victims in death penalty cases are white. In all, only 37 of the over 18,000 executions in this country’s history involved a white person being punished for killing a Black person. The Death Penalty has also been proven to punish the poor. For example, if you can afford good legal representation, you will not end up on death row. Over 90% of defendants charged with capitol crimes are poor and cannot afford to hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to represent them. They are forced to use inexperienced, underpaid court-appointed attorneys. The death penalty condemns the innocent to death. Since 1976, more than 82 people have been released from prison after being sentenced to death despite their innocence. In other words, 1 in 7 of those on death row have been freed after being fully exonerated. States which have abolished the death penalty have lower murder rates than states which have not. The death penalty is “cruel and unusual punishment.” In the decades, people have been executed who were under the age of 18 when they committed the crime for which they were convicted. Seventy more juveniles are currently on death row awaiting execution. Mentally retarded inmates have also been executed. I think that the death penalty is unjust and unfair. It is unfair because it is racist. It has been proven that the death penalty is unjust and unfair in many ways and I do not think it is fair to be judged upon your color or ethnic bac...