The Effects Of Race On Sentencing In Capital Punishment Cases
Beginning of paper
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville
CJ 478W-Introduction To Methods Of Research
TTH 8:00-9:30
Throughout history, minorities have been ill-represented in the criminal
justice system, particularly in cases where the possible outcome is death. In
early America, blacks were lynched for the sli ....
Middle of paper
.... years later in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the
Supreme Court decided, with efficient controls, the death penalty could be used
constitutionally. Yet, even with these various controls, the system does not
effectively eliminate racial bias.
Since Gregg v. Georgia the total population of all 36 death rows has
grown as has the number of judicial controls used by each state. Of the 3,122
people on death row 41% are black while 48% are white (Gest, 1996, 41). This
figure may be acc ....
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Word count: 1134
Page count: 5 (approximately 250 words per page)
