he race that constitutes a death sentence, but the economic status of the offender. It is important to note that blacks suffer from economic deprivation more then whites which constitutes such conflict in our society to begin with. This can sometimes be read as a two edge sword since the poor and the minority almost always fall into the same category. Thus if you cannot afford a defense counsel, and have to rely on Indigent Defenders, you may just as well throw the towel in and save taxpayers money. There is no way an Indigent Offender can properly defend a person who is accused of murder. First off, if the prosecution has enough evidence to convict, you can best be sure, there is enough funds to back up that conviction. So where does the democracy come into this conviction process? Many studies have shown that not only are the minorities targeted more but that the mentally retarded are as well. In referring to the mentally incompetent, how can someone with an I.Q. of 60 -70 be proven to contain mens rea or any mental element that would deem him responsible for such a crime. ( DPIC Mental Retardation statistics). In this case scenario the old adage "ignorance is bliss" does not apply. No one who takes a persons life can be in their right mind to begin with so the whole justice system needs to re-define this idea. Anger and frustration from the victim's family and a lot of hypocrites running this nation supposedly under God, are the driving force behind such actions on behalf of another. The holy bible even says "he is without sin, cast the first stone." If this is true, then none of us has the right to judge anyone's soul but it's creator. "The higher laws of spirit overrides or supersedes all the lower laws of the physical and mental planes." (Fox 115). Be it so, it appears that the way a victim's family feels on the death penalty would clearly have a powerful influence on public opinion, for we know that executing a perso...
