Liberty and Justice for All?

Liberty and Justice for All?

Submitted to "Viewpoints" in The Michigan Daily 

By Haleigh Guerin

We, as Americans, have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This seemingly harmless statement about fundamental freedoms has become controversial, especially in the case of our “right to life.” Many people associate this phrase with the abortion debate, however, there is another aspect of Pro-Life to consider: capital punishment. Although recently this issue has been pushed out of the spotlight, the death penalty is still relevant when taking into account its discriminatory practices.

            During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King battled against discrimination and the unfair treatment of minorities. His definition of justice included equality and uplifting human dignity. Yet today, prejudice and marginalization are still major issues, even in our legal system, although in more subliminal ways. Justice theorist and author, Iris Marion Young, further explains this subconscious marginalization as “cultural imperialism” or, “the universalization of a dominant group’s experience and culture, and its establishment as the norm.” Taking into account the prejudiced cultural norms surrounding the death penalty, we should work to abolish capital punishment on the basis of its immorality and injustice.

First we must look at the root of the problem. Cultural norms concerning ethnic minorities are produced by and disseminated through the media and become accepted stereotypes. In “Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling,” Kelly Welch reports that researchers have found that Blacks are shown in television newscasts as criminals 2.4 times more often than Whites. This leads society to believe that minorities are more violent and, therefore, more capable of committing crimes that warrant the death penalty.  

The ideas surrounding minority stereotypes are transferred to the legal system and affect the outcome of death penalty cases. There is a large disparity between ethnic minorities and Whites who are subjected to the death penalty. For example, deathpenalty.procon.org points out that although African Americans represent 13% of the United States’ population, Blacks make up an astounding 50% of the death row population. Additionally, consistent with the idea of cultural imperialism, the recipients of punishment are disproportionately Black while the justice system, despite being well intentioned, is mainly White and contributes to this unjust status quo.

            Despite the facts supporting the discriminatory practices of the death penalty, people still claim that capital punishment is a necessary deterrent to control the criminal activity of our country. Capital punishment advocates contend that justice is better served when the death penalty is in effect. One might say that executing criminals is a form of karma because the felon gets what he or she deserves.

However, in my opinion, this “eye-for-an-eye” version of justice is outdated and hypocritical. Why kill people who kill people to prove that killing is wrong? We should lead by example, not threats. Furthermore, Martin Luther King worked his whole life to attest that one person’s life is not more valuable than another’s. The idea that the state must kill one person in order to avenge the death of another is wrong in and of itself. Martin Luther King asserts, “An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” In other words, looking at the death penalty from a morality perspective is a legitimate argument because morality and justice go hand in hand.  

Even if one does not agree that the death penalty is immoral, one cannot ignore the facts. While people claim DNA tests can eliminate all uncertainty of a person’s innocence, amnestyusa.org states that over 130 people have been released from death row due to wrongful convictions since 1973. Another factor to consider is the financial aspect. According to deathpenalty.org, California taxpayers pay $90,000 more per death row inmate than those in regular confinement, on account of the high cost of legal representation and appeals.

Fortunately, we live in a state where capital punishment is not practiced. Nevertheless, we should not be satisfied until the remaining 33 states abolish the use of the death penalty. Although this is no small task, we should aim even higher. The injustice of the death penalty is not found in the laws, but in the culture. Despite the fact that the discrimination found in capital punishment is for the most part unintentional, it is important to work towards a positive cultural change in order to achieve equality and justice.

There is no simple solution to accomplish this goal. The quest for equality is, after all, hundreds of years in the making. However, one small but effective change could be making sure that the number of televised newscasts about acts of violence done by minorities directly correlates to the real life percentage, so that the numbers are not over-exaggerated and audiences are not misinformed or more prone to accepting untrue stereotypes.

But, first and foremost, we must acknowledge that this injustice exists. The overwhelming presence of minorities on death row must be questioned rather than accepted as common sense. Racial disparities prevent capital punishment from attaining so-called justice. Ridding ourselves of this practice will truly grant everyone a right to life and liberty and, most importantly, achieve justice for all.

Works Cited

Amnesty International. Amnesty International USA. 2012. Web. 9, Dec. 2012. http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-and-innocence.

Death Penalty Focus. The High Cost of the Death Penalty. 2011. Web. 9, Dec. 2012. http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42.

ProCon. Does a person’s race affect the likelihood of him/her receiving the death penalty? 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001187.

Death Penalty Information Center. States With and Without the Death Penalty. Web. 8, Oct. 2012. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty.

King, Martin Luther. Letter from Birmingham Jail. Web. 18, Sept. 2012. http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/letter_birmingham_jail.pdf. 

Welch, K. (2007). Black Criminal Stereotypes and Racial Profiling. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 10, 283. doi: 10. 1177/1043986207306870.

Young, I.R. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press.