One of the main arguments against the Death Penalty is that innocent people can be executed. This theory has been backed up; since 1973, there have been one hundred forty-three exonerations, meaning that they were freed from death row. This shows that there is a real possibility of someone innocent being executed. Based on these numbers, it is quite possible that there have been innocent people killed since 1973. Another issue is the issue of race. A 1990 report from the General Accounting Office showed that in exactly eighty-two percent of the studies taken, race was shown to have an effect in likelihood of being charged with capital punishment. One of the most shocking statistics relating to race and the death penalty is the percentage of African Americans sentenced to death by a jury compared to the percentage of other races sentenced. Statistics show that in cases with a black defendant (no matter the race of the person who was murdered) there is a 38% higher rate of application of the death penalty. Furthermore, it is shown that since 1976, the race of the victims involved in capital punishment cases has been 77% white, and 15% black, with Latinos and others making up the remaining 8%.”
These numbers prove that the death penalty is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, because many more African Americans have been executed for being found guilty of murdering a white person than whites have been for murder of a black person. It also shows that a white life is valued more than an African American one. This is a quote from former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall concerning race and the death penalty:
"When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue."
These numbers prove that the death penalty is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, because many more African Americans have been executed for being found guilty of murdering a white person than whites have been for murder of a black person. It also shows that a white life is valued more than an African American one. This is a quote from former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall concerning race and the death penalty:
"When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue."