Death Penalty

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Death Penalty
One of the most controversial issues the United States has repeatedly dealt with in recent memory has been the institution of the death penalty. Now, the decision whether to implement the death penalty is a state level verdict which of course creates nationwide disagreement along with some level of social unrest. The two stances on this subject are rather black and white, either pro-death penalty or con- death penalty. The most effective form of implementation however is con- death penalty for a variety of reasons including; suspected targeting of racial minorities, government's right to take a life, as well as American citizens falling victim to cruel and unusual punishment.
There are basically two sides in the issue of targeting racial minorities, those who agree that minorities are being targeted and those who agree that they simply commit the majority of crimes in the United States. In the year 2007, African Americans accounted for approximately 13 percent of the entire population yet, nearly 50 percent of those on death row were African American (NAACP). Those numbers are irrefutable regardless of your stance on the issue. The conclusion will be identical, African Americans, in proportion to their population, commit more crimes than racial majorities, specifically White Caucasians, in proportion to their population (Peffley, Hurwitz, 1002). The moral dilemma that ensues is of course whether blacks are unjustly placed on death row simply because of their r...

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Submitted by: mubilal1
Date Submitted: 05-24-2011
Category: Law
Words: 1135
Pages: 4.54