Religious views on death penalty Essay

This is issue of death penalty has been talked of the town since it was started. All religious groups are not silent about such issue whether they are against on it or not but instead, they really demonstrated their strong conviction to disagree or agree on such act. Other religious groups consider it as inhumane and see ourselves having no right to stop the lives of others while other religious groups are on the opposite side. But most of the religious groups around the world have one cry which is to stop the death penalty practiced. In connection of this issue, there are sixteen principal religious organizations in the United States of America which have more than 1 million advocates that consists twelve Christian faith organizations, Atheism, Islam, Judaism and the group of people who do not have the religious identification. However, Christian groups have different perceptions regarding the death penalty issue. Below are the perceptions they projected regarding the death penalty: ? Some of the Evangelical congregations and Fundamentalist are showing support on death penalty which named as the â€Å"retentionist position†, while the Mennonites and Amish are on the different direction. The Conservative Protestants are known to be pro-life and even fight the idea of abortion yet in general; they are in favor on death penalty which comprises the taking of lives of those convicts. But they justified their being pro-life by opposing taking one’s life of innocent human being like embryo, fetus, newborn, child and others. But an individual who sits on the death row is guilty of offensive crimes and deserves to be punished of what he did (see â€Å"Present-Day Religious Group’s Policies Concerning the death Penalty†. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. org). ? The mainline & liberal denominations and the Roman Catholic Church are against on death penalty (see â€Å"Present-Day Religious Group’s Policies Concerning the death Penalty†. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. org). a. 1 Religious grounds. There are several passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that sentenced individuals to death if they go along with other spiritual path. From the King James Version of the Bible, Jehovah declared such execution for: a. 1. 1 following another religion: Exodus chapter 22 verse 20 says: â€Å"He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed† (see â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org). a. 1. 2 a stranger entering the temple: Numbers chapter 1 verse 51 says: â€Å"†¦when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death† (see â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org). a. 1. 3 proselytizing: Deuteronomy chapter 13 verses 1-10 says that if an individual who attempts to persuade an Israelite to change his belief should be put to death (see â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org). d. 1. 4 communicating with the dead: Leviticus chapter 20 verse 27 medium and spiritists whether male or female are executed by stoning (see â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org). a. 1. 5 black magic: Exodus chapter 22 verse 18 says: â€Å"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live (see â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org). B. Problems arise due to death penalty a) Racism Wherever we go, racism is always present. The worst thing is, when racism also exists in giving a death penalty sentence to an accused. Does this â€Å"extreme penalization† applied fairly regardless to the class or race? Obvious and manifest racism is observed and witness too in courtrooms around the nation. In death penalty circumstances, the practice of pejorative and critical disgrace stirs up the flames of bias and partiality and to some extent permits the jury to adjudge unsympathetically and insensitively those they desire to incriminate for the said dilemma of the offense. There are several illustrations that can be given as examples: 1. â€Å"One of you two is going to hang for this. Since you’re the nigger, you’re elected. † These were the words enunciated by a Texas police officer to Clarence Brandley who was penalized in murdering of a white high school girl. And in 1990, Brandley was found guiltless after ten years on death row (Bailey, Harris, & Jones, 2005). 2. Another circumstance was when there was a preparation going on for the penalty phase of an African-American defendant’s trial, a white judge from Florida stated in an open court: â€Å"Since the nigger mom and dad are here anyway, why don’t we go ahead and do the penalty phase today instead of having to subpoena them back at cost to the state. † Anthony Peek received a death penalty sentence from the court and in 1986; the Florida Supreme Court established and confirmed the sentenced for a review due to his claim of racial bias (Bailey, Harris, & Jones, 2005). 3. A certain prosecutor from Alabama provided his justification and cause for striking number possible jurors the verity that they were associated with Alabama State University, mainly black organization. The said excuse and ground were deliberated race neutral by the said reviewing court. 4. An election campaign happened in 1997 for Philadelphia’s Distinct Attorney; it was divulged and made known that one of the said candidates had wrought – serves as an Assistant D. A. – a preparation video for recent prosecuting attorneys in which he commanded them about whom to keep out and leave out in the cold from the adjudicators which noted that â€Å"young black women are very bad† on the adjudicators for a prosecuting attorney and further stated â€Å"blacks from low-income areas are less likely to convict. † 5. Judge Earl Blackwell in Missouri gave out a signed press release all about his jurisdictional election proclaiming his recent association with the Republican Party at the same time ruling over a death penalty circumstance in opposition to a jobless African-American perpetrator. The mentioned press release specified and indicated that: [T]he Democrat party places far too much emphasis on representing minorities . . . people who don’t’ (sic) want to work, and people with a skin that’s any color but white . . . . The magistrate has repudiated a motion to rescue himself from the said trial. Brian Kinder-the perpetrator- was found guilty and punished to death and in 1996, Missouri’s Supreme Court asserted it (Bailey, Harris, & Jones, 2005). These were just the illustrations given which are figurative of a more methodical and orderly racism and they give us the scenarios of how racism and insensitivity occurred when somebody is facing an execution. According to Richard C. Dieter in his article entitled â€Å"The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides† stated that â€Å"In Philadelphia, the death sentences’ raw data in the middle of 1983 and 1993 gives the primary piece of alarming and distressing indication that racism is still happening. The rate mentioned of qualified black defendants who were penalize to death reached about 40 percent compared to the rates for other qualified defendants. Below is chart taken from http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? scid=45&did=539. There is another statistical data in Death Penalty States which shows a risk of Racial Discrimination and was taken again from http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? scid=45&did=539. ** The state which has no death penalty race data is accessible. *** The state which has no death sentences enforced as of January 1, 1998. =Solitary findings whose calculations were statistically important and substantial, or where the ratio amongst death sentencing -or prosecutorial charging- rates (example amongst black victim and white victim circumstances) was 1. 5 or greater and having an example dimension of at least 10 cases in every group, were contained within. The differences and inequalities in nine states-SC, MS, GA, KY, CA, NJ, NC, PA and CO-are based on well-controlled investigation and analysis. The calculations in different states are from less well-controlled findings and are lone evocative. =The total race of victim difference apart from solitary, Delaware, were in the route of more death sentences in white victim cases. =the total race of defendant difference apart from two, Tennessee and Florida, were in the route of more death sentences for black defendants or accused. Another article written by Dudley Sharp advocated that â€Å"despite the fact that whites and blacks include about an equal number of murder victims, the relation or proportion of white-to-black injured parties in death-penalty situations is about 7-to-1. † b) Myth of Racism in Death Penalty In an article entitled â€Å"Myth of racism in Death Penalty† published in one of the websites in the internet explained that â€Å"regardless of the assertions of death penalty adversaries, there is still slight indication and confirmation that prejudiced prosecuting attorneys are more obsessive and fervent on the order of pursuing the death penalty in opposition to the African-Americans- commented by the legal observers- or which adjudicators are directing blacks to death row frequently. The substantiation implies black murder perpetrators are no supplementary like to get death sentences compared to whites even though at the end part of the year 1996, there was about 42 percent of death row convicts were African-Americans. According to federal statistics in 1996, there were 43. 2 percent of pugnacious offense cases and 54. 9 percent of all offense cases, and the criminals involved were African-Americans, predominantly due to the fact that young black males perpetrate an inconsistent number of offenses mainly in opposition to other blacks. On the other hand, according to the U. S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics whites took into custody for manslaughter or homicide- other than inattentive homicide- are more susceptible to death sentence compared to blacks, about 1. 6 percent of whites against 1. 2 percent of blacks. And white death-sentence convicts are supplementary like to be put to death since 1977 until 1996; about 7. 2 percent of white convicts were put to death in comparison to 5. 9 percent of blacks. Another study presents that the federal death penalty is exercised excessively and unreasonably in opposition to minorities most especially to African Americans and which it is put into practiced in a topographically random and subjective way-with several states such as Texas and Virginia- reporting for an enormous share of death penalty trials and hearings. According to DOJ information and statistics that it is approximately 80 percent of prisoners on federal death row are Hispanic, Black or from other smaller or lesser group. Smaller groups report and explain for 74 percent of the cases in which federal prosecuting attorneys search and strive for death penalty. The worst scenario is when racism also presents in giving death sentence to a defendant. Does this â€Å"intense penalization† practiced justly regardless to its race? In death penalty situations, the practice of critical and pejorative disgrace stirs up the flames of bias and partiality and to some extent allows the jury to convict insensitively and unsympathetically to those who they wish implicate such punishment (see Dieter, R. C. â€Å"The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides†. June 1998). The newest exoneration is of John Ballard, no. 123 of Florida on the 23rd day of February 2006. The table below shows the exonerations by race and was taken from â€Å"Innocence and the Death Penalty: DPIC (http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? did=412&scid=6#inn-yr-rc). Race Number of Exonerations Black 62 White 48 Latino 12 Other 1 c. ) Who Gets the Death Sentence? According to an article entitled â€Å"How Racism Riddles the U. S. Death Penalty† explained that â€Å"in 1972, the U. S. Supreme Court was stricken down almost altogether death penalization in the state due to its reason that found them to be unpredictable and capricious and intensely not fair-Furman v. Georgia. In a cracked 5-4 judgment, every Justice wrote his own point of view and several cited indications of racial prejudices. In Gregg v. Georgia, the Court has proven and established a recent generation of capital decrees which assure and guarantee equal impartiality. At present, there are 38 states that practiced death penalty. Since Greg, there was about 5,000 people have been sentenced to death and about 682 executions have been performed. Most of those on the death row are the people who have different races. There was about 42 percent solely for the Black men of all death row prisoners even though they report for only 6 percent of people who live in the United States of America. Racism is found not only in the Southern part where most of the United States implementation and execution are taking place. In a study made by George Woodwort and David Baldus showed that blacks who reside in Philadelphia are four times more likely to receive the death penalty compared to other defendants or accused who execute the same murders. The Philadelphia has put 133 people on the death row which is more than most southern states. About 89 percent of the said qualified defendants or accused for death sentence are people of color. d. ) Who Receives an Execution? Since 1976, approximately half of the executed have been people of different race together with sole blacks’ record for about 35 percent. Everybody said that about 82 percent have been executed to death for the murder of a white person. And compared to white, only 1. 8 percent was executed because the defendant was convicted of killing of an African, an Asian, or Latin descent. In every two persons executed, one is a black since 1930. Since the conception of death penalty, problems regarding such punishment have never ended. The questions start popping up from different walks of life whether death penalty involves racism or not, the risks in executing the innocent and the debates of pro and anti. However, as we can see the chart below, it simply shows that the death penalty penalization to Black Americans lessens for almost four decades (chart below was taken from http://www. ojp. usdoj. gov/bjs/glance/drrace. htm). e.) Risks on executing the innocent Another problem that arises is the risk of executing an innocent man. We cannot say how many of the 1,000 individuals sentenced with capital punishment since 1976 may possibly innocent. The courts will not think about and entertain the claims of innocence if the accused is already executed. The defense attorneys of the defendant, who is still alive, will move on other cases to save his/her client from such punishment. An example of case was of Ruben Cantu of Texas. He was convicted in 1985 and executed in 1993. The accused Ruben Cantu determinedly and insistently claimed that he was innocent from the crime and was 17 years of age when accused with capital murder for killing a man from San Antonio and attempted robbery cases. After the execution, the jury and the prosecutor have shown their doubts regarding the case. In addition, the witness against Cantu and the co-defendant of Cantu have come into conclusion that Cantu was an innocent man (see â€Å"Additional Innocence Information: Executed but Possibly Innocent†. Death penalty information Center). If this scenario continuously happens, it is not surprising why we still have rallies against death penalty. f. ) The debates of pro and anti This issue between the anti and pro regarding death penalty practice never dies because of different beliefs, principles and experiences and both sides have an argument and stand points. The anti and pro both want justice for people they are defending. F. Public opinion polls on the death penalty In a survey conducted by Harris poll in 1965, there was approximately 38% of United States poll respondents are pro and supported death penalty while there were about 47% who are against of it. But in 2001, the atmosphere changed. From 38% of death penalty advocates, it increased up to 67% while the anti decreased from 47% down to 26%. But just this year of 2006, there was a great increased on the side of those who believed on death penalty. A census made by Sam Houston State University discovered that there were approximately 73. 4% of respondents countrywide that are in favored on death penalty for individuals charged with murder while for those 20. 1% anti-death penalty believed on life imprisonment without parole (see â€Å"Public Opinion Polls on the Death Penalty†. Death Penalty Statistics, March 24, 2005). G. Death penalty statistics From the 23rd day of February 2006, there have been 123 exonerations in different states in the United States of America. The chart below shows the denominations of convicts sentenced by death penalty (see â€Å"Exonerations by State†. Innocence and the Death Penalty. DPIC). STATE NO. STATE NO. Florida 22 Massachusetts 3 Illinois 18 Missouri 3 Louisiana 8 Indiana 2 Texas 8 So. Carolina 2 Arizona 8 Idaho 1 Oklahoma 7 Kentucky 1 Pennsylvania 6 Maryland 1 Georgia 5 Mississippi 2 No. Carolina 5 Nebraska 1 Alabama 5 Nevada 1 Ohio 5 Virginia 1 New Mexico 4 Washington 1 California 3. Every year, the rate of exonerations rose drastically. But the irony is that, the more it is practiced and applied, the more the people commit crimes and offenses. The more they are aware of such act, the more they become â€Å"rebellious† and commit crimes without hesitation. From 1973 up to 1998, the average of exonerations every year was 2. 96. But since 1998 up until 2003, the average has increased from 2. 96 to 7. 60 exonerations. In 2004, there were about 6 exonerations. The graph below is accurate as of 11th of July 2006 and shows the number of exonerations every year (see â€Å"Exonerations by Year†. Innocence and the Death Penalty. DPIC). III. Recommendations A. Possible remedies or alternatives to abolish death penalty. There are several remedies on how to abolish death penalty. One of these is life imprisonment. The anti-death penalty group views and believes that life imprisonment is an efficient alternative for capital punishment, that death penalty will just lead to insufficient of justice and violates the rights of the convicts (Bumiller, 1999). Moreover, death penalty is more costly than having life imprisonment. In a 1993 Duke University study presented that the capital punishment in North Carolina amounts more than 2. 16 million dollars in every execution compared to life imprisonment. The New Mexico State Republic Defender Department approximated the state in 1996 that if there will be no death penalty; there will be a saving of 1 to 2. 5 USD million dollars on the Public Defender (see â€Å"Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, Inc. May 24, 2006). Additionally, the Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) acknowledges and advocates the society’s responsibility to defend every person from individuals who are treacherous especially those who are convicts. Not only that, FDAP also looks after the welfare of the convicts. FADP views death penalty as a negative public policy. The organization suggested a practical and worthwhile alternative for capital punishment. This is when an individual charged with capital murder, he must serve in the prison for 25 years before he can receive the possible reconsideration for parole. And while the convict is in prison, he should be given a job that is dignified. And a fraction of his earnings must be used to pay for his incarceration and another fraction will go to a funding for the victims of ferocious crimes. The funds also give financial assistance to those families that have lost their â€Å"bread winner† because of crimes (see â€Å"Yes Friends, there is an alternative to the death penalty! † Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP). IV. Conclusion We should always remember that every action we do have a consequence, whether it is good or bad. As I study this issue, I learned that I should not be one sided but be opened for any different views regarding death penalty issue. My views were widened that both pro and anti are having valid reasons why they fight and stand out for their beliefs and principles. But, I have noticed that the more death penalty is practiced, the crime rates increase instead of decreasing. So, as my conclusion, it is better to stop death penalty not because I am against or pro but because the crime rates did not lessen as what others think of. Moreover, if in case death penalty will not be abolished, I would suggest that the judge must be careful in giving such punishment. They must review the death sentence they have given to the accused to avoid mistakes and spare the lives of the innocence. And for the legislators, they should think-through the laws they make. They should not make laws which are always in favor in their race or color. References 1. â€Å"Human Rights: Death Penalty†. Derechos Human Rights. http://www. derechos. org/dp/ 2. â€Å"Early Death Penalty Laws†. History of the Death Penalty, p. 1. http://deathpenaltyinfo. msu. edu/c/about/history/history-1. htm 3. Executions in the U. S. 1608-1978: The Espy File. DPIC, 2006 http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? scid=8&did=269 4. â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org. http://www. religioustolerance. org/execut3. htm#met 5. â€Å"Present-Day Religious Group’s Policies Concerning the death Penalty†. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. org). http://www. religioustolerance. org/execut7. htm 6. â€Å"The Death Penalty/Capital Punishment in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Religious Tolerance. Org. http://www. religioustolerance. org/exe_bibl1. htm 7. Dieter, R. C. â€Å"The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides†. June 1998. http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? scid=45&did=539 8. â€Å"Additional Innocence Information: Executed but Possibly Innocent†. Death penalty information Center. http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? scid=6&did=111#executed 9. â€Å"Public Opinion Polls on the Death Penalty†. Death Penalty Statistics, March 24, 2005. http://justice. uaa. alaska. edu/death/stats. html 10. â€Å"Exonerations by State†. Innocence and the Death Penalty. DPIC. http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? did=412&scid=6 11. â€Å"Exonerations by Year†. Innocence and the Death Penalty. DPIC. http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/article. php? did=412&scid=6 12. â€Å"Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation, Inc. May 24, 2006. http://www. mvfr. org/DeathPenaltyFacts. htm 13. â€Å"Yes Friends, there is an alternative to the death penalty! † Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP). http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache: YUqcUlOTl9MJ:www. fadp. org/docs/alternatives. pdf+Alternative+for+death+ penalty&hl=en&gl=ph&ct=clnk&cd=4&client=firefox-a 14. Bailey, S. H. , Harris, D. J. , and Jones, B. L. Civil Liberties: Cases and Materials. 2d ed. , 2005. London: Butterworths. Standard legal textbook referring principally to British law. 15. Bumiller, Kristin. The Civil Rights Society: the Social Construction of Victims. Baltimore; London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Concise scholarly study.