As the potassium chloride

progressively silenced the tune of Troy Davis’ heart, political

tension and feelings of animosity climaxed amongst protesters as a

potentially innocent man met his demise at the hands of the United

States Government on Sept. 21.

“font-size: 12pt;”>As the potassium chloride progressively silenced

the tune of Troy Davis’ heart, political tension and feelings of

animosity climaxed amongst protesters as a potentially innocent man

met his demise at the hands of the United States Government on

Sept. 21.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Senator John Kerry once summarized the death

penalty in the statement, “A humane and generous concern for every

individual, his health and fulfillment, will do more to soothe the

savage heart than the fear of state-inflicted death, which chiefly

serves to remind us how close we remain to the jungle.”

“font-size: 12pt;”>Davis supposedly shot and killed an off duty

police officer in a Burger King parking lot. The gun was never

found and the prosecution against Davis was completely based on

witness testimonies. Many of the witnesses recanted their stories

and stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured into

testifying against Davis by police.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Capital punishment is an ineffective tactic for

deterring crime and is used discriminatorily against minorities,

particularly black who commit crimes against whites. The death

penalty has been inflicted at significantly higher rates on

minorities, specifically African-Americans.

“font-size: 12pt;”>In fact, George Baldus and statistician George

Woodworth found that death penalty odds are 3.9 times higher if the

defendant is black.

“font-size: 12pt;”>After acknowledging such a staggering statistic,

one might question who makes the critical decisions regarding who

lives and who dies.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Recent studies found that the district attorneys

who make the final decision in death penalty cases in the United

States are 98 percent white and one percent African American. The

extreme disparities between the percentages explain the racially

biased implementation of the death penalty. It seems that racially

charged discrimination rooted in the 1600s is still prevalent in

today’s “color-blind” society.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Death penalty expert, Richard Dieter, found that

blacks who kill whites were more likely to receive the death

penalty than any other offender-victim combination. 

It is quite possible that if Troy Davis had chosen to murder a

black police officer the district attorney would have allowed him

to perish in a cell.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Dieter also found that black defendants on

average are faced with a distinctly higher chance of receiving the

death penalty than all other similarly situated defendants. Such

findings point to a judicial system that is inclined and influenced

by historically consistent racial prejudices.

“font-size: 12pt;”>The implementation of the death penalty is

somewhat if not completely biased towards white

Americans.

“font-size: 12pt;”>The threat of death by execution does not deter

capital crimes more than imprisonment. Clever conservatives use

such persuasive political clichés to amplify this plausible concept

and to justify their positions, but the facts do not support

it.

“font-size: 12pt;”>An overwhelming majority of capital crimes are

not premeditated and normally occur in the heat of the

moment.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Hence, the fear of the death penalty will seldom

influence an offender to restrain from committing a capital

crime.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Hugo Adam Bedau, a death penalty expert, found

that only two percent of those convicted of criminal homicide are

sentenced to the death penalty. Therefore, even the infrequent

person who somehow evaluates the risk of the death penalty before

committing a murder would probably expire in an eight by ten cell

block if they play their cards right.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Without mentally analyzing the possibility of

receiving the death penalty, capital punishment has no significance

or use as a deterrent of capital offenses.

“font-size: 12pt;”>According to Amnesty International findings,

murder rates in death penalty states have consistently been

slightly higher than those in abolition states. Unfortunately, this

proves that if a person feels that it is necessary to take a life,

he or she will take a life.  Fear is not an element

within the mind of a bonafide murderer, whether he or she is in a

death penalty state or not.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Death penalty supporters often preach that the

death penalty will decrease the number of assaults on police

officers. In fact, there have been more assaults on police officers

in states that still implement  the death penalty than

in states that have abolished the death penalty.  The

death penalty has never and never will keep a criminal from

engaging in a criminal act of any kind.

“font-size: 12pt;”>A compilation of racially biased death penalty

statistics serve as evidence of the racism and prejudice that has

plagued the United States for centuries.

“font-size: 12pt;”>In a country supposedly founded on Christian

principals, our leaders choose to send a message of the

permissibility of murder when it is used in an effort to solve

social problems.

“font-size: 12pt;”>The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States

Constitution is violated when a convicted person is stripped of the

possibility of new evidence being presented or legal ramifications

that could warrant a reversal or release.

“font-size: 12pt;”>The concept of due process under the law has

been overlooked for years and could have saved Troy Davis’

life.

“font-size: 12pt;”>Whether Davis or any other death row inmate in

the United States is guilty or not, the bottom line is that the

death penalty is irrevocable and a mistake cannot be

pardoned.

• Kalyn Hoyle, Contributor