Answering the hard problems: Race and the death penalty

“By reserving the penalty of death for black defendants . . . or for those convicted of killing white persons, we perpetuate the ugly legacy of slavery – teaching our children that some lives are inherently less precious than others.”-Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Former President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Since 1977, the overwhelming majority of death row defendants (80%) have been executed for killing white victims, although whites make up only 50% percent of all homicide victims. In a 1990 report, the non-partisan U.S. General Accounting Office found “a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty.”

A North Carolina study, based on data from 502 murders occurring between 1993 and 1997 found that defendants whose victims are white are 3.5 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those with non-white victims.

Underlying the statistical evidence is the differential treatment of African-Americans at every turn:

  • All of Tennessee’s District Attorneys General are white. These are the people who decide whether or not to seek the death penalty.
  • African Americans make up 43% of Tennessee’s death row population but only 17% of its total population.
  • African Americans make up 35% of those executed in the U.S. since 1976.

Race in Tennessee Death Penalty Cases

E.J. Harbison, a poor, African- American man with no prior criminal record, was sentenced to death in 1983 for his role in the murder of Edith Russell, an elderly, white woman. Although the state claimed the murder was premeditated, Harbison did not carry a weapon; Russell was killed with her own vase during the botched burglary.

Erskine Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in Memphis, a city with a majority black population. Although half a dozen black witnesses testified that Johnson was in St. Louis at the time of the crime, the jury relied on largely circumstantial evidence and coerced testimony from supposed co-defendants and sentenced him to death.

Fairly, there are numerous aspects you would like to think about medications. All discount medicaments save money, but few online drugstores offer better deals than other online drugstores. There isn’t anything you can’t order online anymore. Remedies like Deltasone ordinarily is used to treat diseases such as eye problems. Glucocorticoids naturally occurring steroids, which are easily absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. There are varied drugs for every conditions. Cialis is a remedy prescribed to treat many illnesses. What do you already know about long term side effects of cialis? What consumers talk about how long does it take for cialis to take effect? A general sexual appeal among men is the erectile dysfunction. Sexual problems mostly signal deeper problems: low libido or erectile dysfunction can be the symptom a strong soundness problem such as core trouble. Albeit the erectile malfunction itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, erectile malfunction is sometimes one of the early warning symptoms of other underlying heartiness conditions that can be very much dangerous. Unfortunately nearly all over-the-counter medicines have sometimes dangerous aftereffects, from muscle aches to death. If you buy any erectile dysfunction medicaments like Cialis, check with a physician that they are sure to take with your other drugs. Do not take unwanted medications. Take Cialis to your local chemist’s shop which will dispose of them for you.

Leave a Reply

JOIN OUR

MAILING LIST