Death penalty administration: Racially biased?

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

9 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

04/06/2009

Category :

Law & contracts

Sub category :

Civil law

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Summary :

Introduction
Capital punishment: The most extreme penalty for a crime
The death penalty as a fixture
Blacks in Philadelphia
Earlier studies by Congress' General Accounting Office
1977 to 1993: A million Americans were murdered
The Racial Justice Act
Do innocent people get put to death in the U.S.?
1994 survey of death-row inmates in U.S. prisons
Conclusion

Abstract

More than 350 people have been executed in the USA since 1990. The U.S.A. has the highest known death row population on earth at over 3, 300. In 1997 the USA carried out 74 executions--the highest number for the last four decades. Only China, Saudi Arabia and Iran were known to have executed more prisoners. The ramifications of the use of the death penalty in a country as influential as the USA go far beyond its borders. Officials in different countries have suggested that it is a factor in, or justification for, their own decision to retain the punishment. In 1997 government officials from both the Philippines and Guatemala reportedly inspected execution chambers in the USA as part of their research into lethal injection as a method for killing condemned prisoners of 38 states with death penalty statutes, 14 provide that 18 is the minimum age for execution. In 4 states, 17 is the minimum age; while in 21 other states, 16 is the minimum age. There are now 47 offenders who committed crimes under the age of 18 are currently on death row.