state that capital punishment is unfair to people ofother races, classes, or mental abilities. I say that these aspects are not aissue. Murder has no color, class, or IQ. A murderer is a murderer. When a loved one is killed, I doubt anyone could take comfort in the fact that theperpetrator had a low IQ, was black instead of white, or poor instead of rich. A 1991 Rand Corporation study by Stephen Klein found that whitemurderers received the death penalty slightly more often (32%) thannon-white murderers (27%). And while the study found murderers of whitevictims received the death penalty more often (32%) than murderers ofnon-white victims (23%), when controlled for variables such as severity andnumber of crimes committed, there is no disparity between those sentenced todeath for killing white or black victims.Also, doesn’t the fact that the death penalty is optional make it seemmore prone to racial discrimination? It has been called racist since aprosecutor can seek a death sentence against an African-American for capitalcrime but not a white person for the same offense. You never hear of prisonterms being called “racist” because there are mandatory sentences for manycrimes. If the death penalty were the same way, race would not be an issueand the courts would be forced to concentrate only on the crime committed. For capital punishment to be applied equally to every criminal, rich or poor,black or white, it must be mandatory for all capital cases.There are claims that it is more expensive for the state to execute acriminal than to incarcerate him for life. Many opponents presented, as facts,claim that the cost of the death penalty is so expensive (at least $2 million percase?), that we must choose life without parole at a cost of $1 million for 50years. But JFA (Justice for All) also estimated that life without parole caseswill cost $1.2 million - $3.6 million more than equivalent death penalty cases.Life w...
