Discrimination and the Death Penalty. Law Assignment (Essay Sample)

Discrimination and the Death Penalty
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Discrimination and the Death Penalty
Considering the death sentence case of Duane Buck in Harris County, Texas, the elements of racial discrimination are unavoidable. In light of racial discrimination in capital punishment sentencing, Stubbs (2017) writes in an article for the American Civil Liberties Union that individuals who become convicted of murdering White victims are 4.3 times more likely to receive the death penalty compared to if the victims were African America. Duane was arrested for killing two women: his ex-girlfriend Debra Gardener and her friend Kenneth Butler (Pilkington, 2016). Following his trials, he was convicted in 1996 and the court sentenced him to death in 1997. His case became controversial and open doors for new debated as to whether capital punishment is a racially inspired punishment directed against the African-American offenders. Kappeler & Potter (2017) states that different forms of discrimination including those defined by gender and social status differences influence the issuing of a death sentence.
Under the Law of Texas, a court can only convict an offender who is accused of murder if the jury has reached a unanimous consensus that the defendant is likely to commit future murders or other forms of criminal acts of violence.