Term Paper on "Capital Punishment in America"

Term Paper 5 pages (1430 words) Sources: 5 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Capital Punishment in America

Capital punishment is a highly contentious issue for many Americans. However, in order to determine how one feels about the issue of capital punishment, it is critical to have an accurate overview of how capital punishment works in American society? Are most people convicted of capital murder sentenced to the death penalty? Are there racial disparities in sentencing? Are there gender disparities in sentencing? What percentage of the nation's population sits on death row? Do all states have capital punishment? Do the states that have capital punishment impose the death penalty in similar proportions? Knowing the answers to these and similar questions can help people come to their own informed decisions about whether or not they support capital punishment.

First, it is important to realize that a criminal who commits a capital offense can be subject to the death penalty in any territory in the United States, because the military can impose the death penalty and federal offenses are subject to the death penalty. However, not all crimes will fall under those jurisdictions. Not all states impose the death penalty. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 34 states have the death penalty: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. The District of Columbia and 16 states do not have the death penalty: Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. While New Mexico no longer imposes the death penalty, it has two inmates who remain on death row (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty).

People do need to be aware that race appears to be a factor in death-row sentences. Since the end of the moratorium on death penalty cases in 1976, there have been 1277 defendants executed in the United States. Of those executed, 716 (55%) were white, 441 (35%) were black, 96 (8%) were Hispanic, and 24 (2%) were of another race (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty). Of people currently on death row, 42% are black, 12% are Hispanic, 44% are white, and 2% are of another race (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty). Those percentages do not reflect proportional numbers from the population. According to the most recent U.S. Census, whites compose 72.4% of the overall population, blacks compose 12.6% of the population, and Hispanics compose 16.3% of the overall population (U.S. Census Bureau). While those numbers cannot be directly compared because Hispanics were also identified as a race, most of them white. However, one can see that blacks were significantly overrepresented among those executed.

Race also plays an additional role in executions. Over 75% of the murder victims in cases resulting in executions were white, though only around 50% of murder victims nation-wide are white (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty). In 15% of executions, the victim was black; in 76% of execution, the victim was white; in 6% of executions, the victim was Hispanic; and in 3% of executions the victim was of another race (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty).

Another interesting fact about the death penalty is that death-penalty states impose the sentence in varying numbers. As of January 1, 2011, the number of death row inmates by state was as follows: California 721, South. Carolina 63, Connecticut 10, Florida 398, U.S. Government 61, Utah 9, Texas 321, Mississippi 60, Kansas 9, Pennsylvania 219, Missouri 50, Washington 9, Alabama 206, Arkansas 43, U.S. Military 6, North Carolina 165, Kentucky 36, Maryland 5, Ohio 159, Oregon 34, Colorado 4, Arizona 138, Delaware 20, South Dakota 3, Georgia 103, Idaho 16, Montana 2, Tennessee 87, Illinois 16, New Mexico 2, Louisiana 86, Indiana 14, Wyoming 1, Nevada 81, Nebraska 12, New Hampshire 1, Oklahoma 77, and Virginia 11 (Death Penalty Information Center, Facts about the Death Penalty). That was a total of 3251 on death row at the beginning of 2011 (Death Penalty Information Center, Death Row Inmates by State).

Of course, state populations vary, so it is important to examine the… READ MORE

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