The Death Penalty
Throughout history, people have condoned capital punishment and believe it to be a proper punishment for certain crimes. However, like with anything, there has been increasing scrutiny behind the death penalty. Capital punishment is the legal and politically correct way to refer to the death penalty. The death penalty has been around for thousands of years and has been performed in many different ways. Throughout time, the laws and rules surrounding this form of punishment have been altered and changed, and in many places, it has even been abolished. There have been many court cases in America revolving the death penalty and whether it should be abolished. It has been argued and even attempted to be abolished all together …show more content…
In the case of Willie Lloyd Turner, an African-American, who robbed a jewelry store and shot the owner, the defense argued racial discrimination. Turner went through a fair trial and was convicted by a jury of his peers. During the sentencing hearing, they recommended death. Turner appealed his conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tuner v. Murray (476 U.S. 28 [1986]) to overturn Turner’s death sentence, but not his conviction (Evans, 2012). The Supreme Court recognized that capital punishment is different than normal sentencing, which is why they ruled in favor of Turner. Justice Powell, in his dissent, observed that the court ruling seemed to be "based on what amounts to a constitutional presumption that jurors in capital cases are racially biased. Such presumption unjustifiably suggests that criminal justice in our courts of law is meted out on racial grounds." (Evans, 2012). There have been many other cases regarding race that have been appealed throughout our judicial system. Because of this, David C. Baldus, Charles A. Pulanski Jr., and George Woodworth prepared statistical analyses of more than 2,000 Georgia murder cases that occurred during the 1970s. This study became formally known as the Baldus study (Evans,
Throughout history, people have condoned capital punishment and believe it to be a proper punishment for certain crimes. However, like with anything, there has been increasing scrutiny behind the death penalty. Capital punishment is the legal and politically correct way to refer to the death penalty. The death penalty has been around for thousands of years and has been performed in many different ways. Throughout time, the laws and rules surrounding this form of punishment have been altered and changed, and in many places, it has even been abolished. There have been many court cases in America revolving the death penalty and whether it should be abolished. It has been argued and even attempted to be abolished all together …show more content…
In the case of Willie Lloyd Turner, an African-American, who robbed a jewelry store and shot the owner, the defense argued racial discrimination. Turner went through a fair trial and was convicted by a jury of his peers. During the sentencing hearing, they recommended death. Turner appealed his conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Tuner v. Murray (476 U.S. 28 [1986]) to overturn Turner’s death sentence, but not his conviction (Evans, 2012). The Supreme Court recognized that capital punishment is different than normal sentencing, which is why they ruled in favor of Turner. Justice Powell, in his dissent, observed that the court ruling seemed to be "based on what amounts to a constitutional presumption that jurors in capital cases are racially biased. Such presumption unjustifiably suggests that criminal justice in our courts of law is meted out on racial grounds." (Evans, 2012). There have been many other cases regarding race that have been appealed throughout our judicial system. Because of this, David C. Baldus, Charles A. Pulanski Jr., and George Woodworth prepared statistical analyses of more than 2,000 Georgia murder cases that occurred during the 1970s. This study became formally known as the Baldus study (Evans,