Death Penalty

All phases of a death penalty case are designed to assure only guilty defendants are convicted. Every phase besides the execution and the penalty phase trial incorporates sub-phase(s) that are put in place to prevent an innocent defendant from being executed. I believe lethal injection is the only method of execution that isn't considered cruel and unusual, although guilty murderers could die from any way possible without many American citizens caring if they die as a result of a cruel and unusual method. Hanging, firing squad, electrocution, and gas aren't guaranteed to result in instant death, which then provokes the idea of cruel and unusual punishment.

The majority of death penalty executions have taken place in Texas. It's difficult to suggest Texas overuses their death penalty statute due to Texas' immense population. Their concealed weapon laws also place them in another category that interferes with the legitimacy of the high murder rate. California has one of the largest state populations in the U.S. with 704 people on death row, but only 13 people have been executed in California. At first glance, northern states currently ban the death penalty more than southern states including Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New York. Males have historically been executed at a higher rate than females. I believe this is simply because there are fewer women murderers, not because women are unfairly able to avoid death penalty sentences.

The Illinois Capital Murder Statute appears to be fair. However, after reviewing the state by state data, Illinois executed 348 individuals preceding 1976 which probably implies innocent defendants have been put to death because of the absence of DNA evidence in those cases. Illinois abandoned their capital murder statute because of several reasons; the main reason is the large number of innocent defendants (20) since 1973 who were found guilty, but then later found to be innocent.

After looking over the data, The Death Penalty Information Center puts forth evidence that shows an anti-death penalty bias. The DPIC shows racial fluctuation amongst victims and defendants. The odds of a death penalty sentence were 97% higher for those whose victim was white than for those whose victim was black. Interracial murders bring forth questions of foul play by the judicial system, but nobody can actually prove that this is indeed racism instead of a higher number of blacks killing whites and therefore, more executions of black defendants. Innocence isn't a reason to ban the death penalty. In any judicial system, no matter the crime, there is an unpredictable percentage of defendants being found guilty on trial, but later being found innocent. Though the DPIC shows 141 exonerations since 1973, there are probably a lot more exonerations for non-capital crimes. Another statistic thrown our way is that California has spent $4 billion on death penalty cases since 1978. This statistic has no weight because of the huge amount of money spent by the government in other trials that aren't capital crimes. Tax dollars have to be spent in some way; I don't mind if $4 billion has been spent on enforcing a reasonable statute (the death penalty) for over 30 years because that simply means the government is doing its job.