Crime, Punishment and Debate on the Death Penalty

Crime, Punishment And the Creation of Order How does society establish systems of order for the production of consent?

Argument Capital punishment in the U.S. and elsewhere has been, and continues to an instrument for the production of consent and establishment of order. In the U.S. capital punishment has resulted in violations of equal protection under the constitution. In the U.S. capital punishment has had a disproportionate impact on non-whites.

Discipline and Punish At first, discipline was invoked as a spectacle by Kingship to neutralize abnormal populations…. By the 19th century discipline was asked to play a more positive role primarily to increase the utility of individuals. It played this role through the modern prison. Michel Foucault (1975)

Hogarth / Tyburn Gallows (1747)

Contemporary Execution

8TH Amendment (1787) “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

14TH Amendment (1868) 1) Due Process 2) Equal Protection

DEATH PENALTY IN U.S. “Spectacle” eliminated and replaced with “retribution.” Responses to crime in the U.S. have oscillated between poles of retribution and rehabilitation. “Innocence frame” is weakening support for retribution as a response to crime.

Landmark Legal Cases Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238 / 1972) Held that death penalty statutes resulted in arbitrary sentencing violating constitutional protections Gregg v. Georgia (428 U.S. 153 / 1976) Enabled states to refashion death penalty statutes to conform to Constitution

McCleskey v. Kemp, Supreme Court (1987) Warren McCleskey's 14th amendment claim was that “race had infected the administration of Georgia's statute in two ways: 1) persons who murder whites are more likely to be sentenced to death than persons who murder blacks, and 2) black murderers are more likely to be sentenced to death than white murderers.” The Court said the "racially disproportionate impact" in the Georgia death penalty indicated by a comprehensive scientific study was not enough to overturn the guilty verdict without showing a "racially discriminatory purpose.“ The defense failed to show evidence of “conscious, deliberate bias,” Justice Lewis Powell wrote. McCleskey has been used to illustrate the limitations of "equal protection of the laws" requiring more than a discriminatory effects. The Supreme Court generally requires, in addition to discriminatory effect, a discriminatory purpose.

Total # of U.S. Executions (1608-2002) 15,269 total

Historical Executions by Race (1608-2002) 15,269 Total Executions http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004087

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-year

https://priceonomics.com/why-has-texas-executed-so-many-inmates/

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=186

Death Penalty Disparity 17 States Without

Death Penalty as Deterrent http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence

What Cases Go as Capital Cases?

RACE OF VICTIMS In Executions 1976 - 2006 WHITE 1225 (80%) BLACK 218 (14%) HISPANIC 72 (4%) OTHER 32 (2%) http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=Race&menu=1%22

RACE OF DISTRICT ATTORNEYS

THE EU AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The European Union is opposed to the use of capital punishment under all circumstances and has consistently called for the universal abolition of this punishment…. We consider this punishment to be cruel and inhumane.

Top Execution Countries (2007-15) 6 Countries account For 95% of Executions 1) China 9188 (63%) 2) Iran 3360 (23%) 3) S. Arabia 668 (4.5%) 4) Iraq 607 (4%) 5) Pakistan 497 (3.3%) 6) US 322 (2.1%) http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-international-perspective#interexec

 

Capital Punishment: A Social Movement

Catholic Church / “Thou shall not Kill” “The commandment ‘Do not kill’ holds absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty,… I propose to all who are Catholic to make a courageous and exemplary gesture: may no execution sentence be carried out in this Holy Year of Mercy.” Pope Francis (March, 2016)

Exonerations by Year (1973-2017) (157 Total) http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty#inn-yr-rc

Race of Exonerations Race of Exonerations Defendent Black 81 (52%) White 61 (39%) Latino 12 (7.6%) Other 2 (1.2%) http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty#inn-yr-rc

Exonerations by State (157 Total) Florida and Illinois Lead http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-and-death-penalty#race

THE HUFFINGTON POST The State With The Most Death Row Exonerations Wants To Speed Up Executions http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/lawmaker-in-state-with-mo_n_2533802.html

“Rate of False Conviction of Defendants Sentenced to Death” “We estimate that if all death-sentenced defendants remained under sentence of death indefinitely, at least 4.1% would be exonerated. We conclude that this is a conservative estimate of the proportion of false conviction among death sentences in the U.S.” Samuel R. Gross, Barbara O’Brien, Chen Hu, and Edward H. Kennedy (2014) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7230.full.pdf

Support for Death Penalty http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/14/5-facts-about-the-death-penalty/

Troy Davis After a hearing on September 19, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency to Troy Davis, despite presentation of testimony casting doubt on his guilt.  Davis's claims of innocence received international attention, and calls for clemency have been made by Pope Benedict XVI, former President Jimmy Carter, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher and others. Doubts about Davis's guilt were raised when some prosecution witnesses changed their stories after giving testimony against Davis, including accusations pointing to another suspect as the murderer of a police officer in Savannah. The Board heard testimony from a juror in Davis's original trial who now says she has too much doubt about his guilt and would change her verdict.  They also heard from a witness who originally testified against Davis, but recanted her testimony.  The Board held two previous clemency hearings for Davis, but the makeup of the Board had changed since he was denied clemency in 2008, and new testimony had been given at a federal court hearing in 2010.  Davis was executed late on September 21, 2011.

PERSONS EXECUTED FOR INTERRACIAL MURDERS IN THE U.S. SINCE 1976 White Defendant / Black Victim (15) Black Defendant / White Victim (223) http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=5&did=184