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by Regan Johnson '02 Although it may take a back seat in the media to other current global human rights issues, the continued use of the death penalty in the U.S. remains one of the world's biggest human rights abusers. Our government claims to protect the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and, like it or not, was founded on the ethics of a major religious tradition that asserts "thou shall not kill." Yet while murder is considered one of the most heinous criminal offences in our country, perhaps it would be more accurate for the law books to state "it is a crime to take the life of another human being, unless it is done by the government." This government is not the fair and just actor that we would like to imagine. Evidence shows that on top of the moral hypocrisies that abound in the idea of capital punishment, there are many injustices that occur in the application of the death penalty in the United States. The largest and best documented of these injustices are racial biases in sentencing death penalties, but we also are guilty of injustices involving the execution of mentally ill and juvenile offenders. The statistics are alarming: 80% of the death row inmates executed have been convicted of killing whites. In fact, blacks found guilty of killing whites are more likely than any other group to receive a death sentence. Blacks convicted for killing whites are five times more likely to receive a death sentence than whites killing whites in Florida, and six times more likely to receive a death sentence in Texas. A 1998 study conducted by the Death Penalty Information Center found that in states where the death penalty was legal, 98% of the District Attorneys-who determine whether or not to seek the death penalty-were white. In 24 of the 38 states where the death penalty is imposed, it is legal to execute persons who were under the age of 18 when they committed a crime. This makes U.S. one of only six countries worldwide to execute persons who were juveniles at the time they committed a crime. The other five countries that have not outlawed the practice include Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. China, who the U.S. repeatedly accuses of human rights violations, outlawed the practice in 1997. Since 1990 19 persons who were minors at the time they committed a crime have been executed worldwide-the U.S. is responsible for 10 of those executions. There are 65 juveniles on death row today in the United States. In 1988 and 1989 the UN Committee on Crime Prevention and Control and the Economic and Social Council adopted resolutions stating "persons suffering from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence should not be subject to the death penalty." Since 1983, U.S. has executed 60 persons who were either mentally retarded or mentally ill. In 1993 Christopher Burger, age 33, was executed in GA after spending 16 years on death row for receiving a death sentence for a crime he committed at age 17. At the time of his death, Burger had the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. These injustices have not gone completely unnoticed, domestically or internationally, yet people continue to die. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1972 recognized racial inequality in the application of the death penalty and ended its use. A "guided discretion" statute upheld by the court four years later reinstated the practice, and 625 persons have been executed in the U.S. since 1977. Again, in February 1997, the American Bar Association called for a moratorium on the death penalty in the U.S. until policy changes are made to ensure fairness and due process in death penalty cases and reduce the risk of executing innocent persons. While Illinois recently imposed their own moratorium, executions continue in other states. Waly N'Diaye, the UN Special Reporter on Extrajuducial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions, criticized the U.S. in 1998 for expanding its use of the death penalty compared to countries worldwide for political reasons. N'Diaye stated that "the imposition of death sentences in the United States continues to be marked by arbitrariness," and that "race, ethnic origin and economic status appear to be key determinants of who will and who will not receive a sentence of death." Despite an international effort to ban the use of the death penalty, the United States continues to execute persons convicted of crimes at an alarming rate. The problems apparent in the application of the death penalty demonstrate just how far our government is willing to go to uphold the status quo. In his call to abolish the death penalty, Senator Russ Feingold stated "Those who favor the death penalty should be pressed to explain why fallible human beings should presume to use the power of the state to extinguish the life of a fellow human being on our collective behalf. Those who oppose the death penalty should demand that explanation adamantly, and at every turn." As of January 1999, there were 3,500 inmates on death row. Before another life is taken by this country for "your good," demand an explanation!
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