Reply #17: Against Death Penalty

[Leeny]

Has anyone taken a poll on DU? I'm against it for a number of reasons, one of which is that in this country the death penalty is used in a discriminatory way. I don't have the stats, but in one of my college classes we read studies that showed that the blacker you are the more chance you have of getting the death penalty.

A black man who kills a white man has a MUCH greater chance of getting the death penalty than a white man who kills a black man. And I ain't just talkin' about Mississippi. Here's the breakdown, from highest likelihood to lowest:

black kills white
black kills black
white kills white
white kills black

I don't think it's justice when it's affected by the color of your skin.

Second point... isn't our justice system designed to incarcerate and then REHABILITATE? (Ha!!) Well, I think it is. And in this case, he seems to have been rehabilitated to the point of serving to teach and stop others from committing the same acts he did as a young man.

I don't think he should be let out, but I don't think he should be executed either. Besides, if he's executed now we've wasted a valuable voice in fighting gangs and crime, and I'd be concerned about the reaction from people who look up to him.

Please excuse the pun, but this issues isn't just black & white. It has many dimensions and some of us need to take a harder look at it.