ipl-logo

Wrongful Convictions In Capital Cases

1231 Words5 Pages

Since 1930, 90 percent of individuals executed for rape have been African Americans. This issue has faced multiple controversies due to the belief of “complete confidence” of the criminal justice system (Harmon, 2004). Wrongful convictions have historically occurred due to the races of the defendant versus the race of the victim. This is an in issue because these cases impair the integrity and reliability of the court system (Harmon, 2004). Wrong convictions are not as uncommon as believed by the public. Though the “complete confidence” stigma exists around the system, there are still a wide variety of errors that occur. Racial discrimination represented in early research shows the primary reason for error in conviction for capital cases (Harmon, 2004). Between 1900 and 1985, more than 350 wrongfully convicted individuals were sentenced and of these, 23 were wrongfully executed. Forty-three percent of the 350 defendants were African American’s which is suggestive evidence to support that race can increase the likelihood of conviction (Harmon, 2004). Potentially capital crimes are …show more content…

A severe issue with the reliability of the legal system is the large amounts of cases in which individuals that are falsely convicted on capital crimes facing punishment by death (Harmon, 2004). Upon further investigation, the discovery was made through extensive research about the increased pressures in the courtrooms due to the races present. While the race of the victim plays a substantial role in the discrimination process of the courtroom, it is also an issue of who is facing the capital penalties. Officials on cases are influenced by the pressures in the courtroom including the amount of evidence identifying the defendant, but in some cases, a nonwhite defendant is convicted on less evidence presented than a white defendant (Harmon,

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Disparity In Sentencing

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sentencing disparity within the American Judicial system is a problem that exists across the nation. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, disparity means the markedly distinct in quality or character. Many times, disparity is used in conjunction with discrimination as if the two words mean the same, but they do not. Disparity will include a difference in treatment or outcome but is not based on an opinion, bias or prejudice.

    Read More

  • The Outcome Of Eroy Brown's Trial

    1493 Words  | 6 Pages

    This was particularly true in cases where Brown was accused of being involved in prison riots or other violent incidents. In these cases, the evidence was often based on the testimony of other inmates or correction officers, which could be unreliable due to the complex power dynamics of prison life. Another factor that influenced the outcome of Brown’s trial was the biases of the jurors. In many of his trials, Brown was an African American man facing a predominantly white jury. This created a significant potential for racial bias, which could influence the jurors’ perceptions of the evidence and the defendant.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography For The New Jim Crow

    990 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author’s studies indicate that the criminal justice system choose majority of their targets and suspects predominantly by race. According to studies conducted by the U. S Department of Justice, the imprisonment rate by race per 100,000 residents over 3,000 black males were imprisoned in the year 2000 compared to white males imprisonment rate of less than 500. This shows that conviction of crime, robbery, murder, and other violence and drug related crimes has a clear discrepancy across racial groups.

    Read More

  • Casey Anthony Death Penalty

    980 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a species, humans can be vengeful and spiteful. Especially when it comes down to the justice and injustice when a wrong has been committed. For instance, on August 5, 2008, Casey Anthony was formerly charged with child neglect and slaughter of her baby. This caused quite the stir up among people who felt Ms. Anthony’s baby will not receive the justice that she deserves due to the fact there was no concrete evidence. Many believed that Casey should receive the death penalty to make up for the loss of her baby’s life because various people thought Casey was the one who allegedly killed her own child.

    Read More

  • Just Mercy Essay

    1369 Words  | 6 Pages

    It also needs to be recognized how it may impact a person or groups day to day lives and decision making in these situations. In keeping with time-tested American traditions, black defendants were 38 percent more likely to be sentenced to die than others who committed similar crimes, according to a study by University of Iowa Law School researchers David Baldus and George Woodworth. Their research team analyzed 667 murders that occurred in Philadelphia from 1983 to 1993. Of the 520 cases involving black defendants, 95 were sentenced to die, while 19 of the 147 non-black defendants received the death penalty. (Clarence, Chicago Tribune,1998).

    Read More

  • David Gilboa Capital Punishment Analysis

    2350 Words  | 10 Pages

    Since the beginning of history, the death penalty has been utilized as a means of punishment for a crime. Capital punishment has taken on multiple forms and been used as punishment wide range of crimes; from stealing to murder. Questions and theories have risen that suggest that the penal system is racially biased when considering punishment and deciding when the death penalty is a congruent punishment to the crime committed. In David Gilboa’s report entitled, “Is the Death Penalty in America Racist?” Gilboa analyzes and studies three common conceptions on the death penalty and how it pertains to the African American race and Caucasian race.

    Read More

  • Wrongful Conviction Analysis

    1139 Words  | 5 Pages

    The author seeks to place the responsibility of punishing innocent people in the correctional system, onto that of the state. The role of the correctional system in criminal justice is to punish and rehabilitate, but why happens when someone is placed in there through a wrongful conviction. Though various cases have different circumstances, the author states that the one constant factor in all wrongful conviction cases is the state. By expanding upon existing arguments relevant to state crime the author seeks to expand the readers understanding of wrongful convictions, purely from a criminological point of view. By doing so the article will add to the readers understanding of the tragic scenario of wrongful conviction.

    Read More

  • Essay On African American Incarceration

    343 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is it fair that an African American man is sentenced up to life in prison for possession of drugs when Brock Turner is sentenced to only 14 years, later to be reduced to six months for sexually assaulting an unconscious women. The judiciary system are believed to have a high african american incarceration rate as a result of discrimination. At a presidential debate on Martin Luther King Day, President Barack Obama said that “Blacks and whites are arrested at very different rates, are convicted at very different rates, and receive very different sentences… for the same crime.” Hillary Clinton said the “disgrace of a criminal-justice system that incarcerates so many more african americans proportionately than whites.”

    Read More

  • The Case Of State Of Georgia V. Marcus Dixon

    954 Words  | 4 Pages

    State of Georgia V. Marcus Dwayne Dixon (2003) Marcus Dixon was a highly recruited high school football player. His life suddenly took a tragic turn when he was falsely convicted of raping a 15 year old girl. The elements around his false conviction could have been avoided with some reform to the criminal justice courts system. Dixon initially had many charges against him but were narrowed down to statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. There was much racial disparity surrounding the jury on Dixon’s case, in that the county that Dixon committed his “crime” was a predominantly white population.

    Read More

  • Race In The Prison System Essay

    965 Words  | 4 Pages

    People of all different races and ethnicities are locked behind bars because they have been convicted of committing a crime and they are paying for the consequences. When looking at the racial composition of a prison in the United States, it does not mimic the population. This is because some races and ethnicities are over represented in the correctional system in the U.S. (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2018). According Walker et al. (2018), African-Americans/Blacks make up less than fifteen percent of the U.S. population, while this race has around thirty-seven percent of the population in the correctional system today.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Essay: Racial Bias In The Death Penalty

    815 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The law may be color-blind as it is written, but not as it is enforced.” Racial bias in the death penalty can be traced back to Furman v. Georgia, where handing down the death penalty sentence, unfairly, constituted as a cruel and unusual punishment, violating the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The reinstatement of the death penalty with its new sentencing guidelines, implemented by the Supreme Court, was to ensure that the death penalty sentence was used in a constitutional way. Despite these guidelines, somehow, racial bias has found a way to thrive. It has been documented that an individual is more likely to receive the death penalty in a case where the victim is White than in cases where the victim is Black.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography: The New Jim Crow

    1343 Words  | 6 Pages

    Coker gives great evidence that supports racial injustice in the criminal justice system. She discusses on the Supreme Court’s rulings and accusations of racial preference in the system. This article is helpful because it supports my thesis on race playing a role on the system of criminal justice. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (1997). Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Wrongful Conviction

    949 Words  | 4 Pages

    With millions of criminal convictions a year, more than two million people may end up behind bars(Gross). According to Samuel Gross reporter for The Washington Post, writes that also “even one percent amounts to tens of thousands of tragic [wrongful conviction] errors”(Gross). Citizens who are wrongfully convicted are incarcerated for a crime he or she did not commit. Many police officers, prosecutors, and judges are responsible for the verdict that puts innocents into prison. To be able to get exonerated many wait over a decade just to get there case looked at, not many are able to have the opportunity of getting out.

    Read More

  • Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Death Penalty

    1145 Words  | 5 Pages

    Another issue that was discussed is the inequality of death penalty in practice. There have been serious issues with racial discrimination. For reference in cases with white victims and black defendants convictions occurred twenty two percent of the time while with black victims and white defendants with percentage dropped to a measly three

    Read More

More about Wrongful Convictions In Capital Cases

Open Document