People who oppose the Death Penalty have long argued that the system of putting criminals on death row is unfair, favoring the white and the wealthy. The startling statistics behind the death penalty and death row inmates is a large factor in their argument. This paper is going to tell about the people who have been executed and the people who are currently on death row. It will not only focus on the statistics amongst the races but also will discuss the average age, social status, and educational achievement of the people sentenced to die, the difference in the crimes that got them sentenced, and the small amount of women who have been faced with this court decision. The sentencing of death is claimed to have double standards based on these characteristics. I will present the facts and let you, the reader, form your own opinion on whether or not these claims against the death penalty are true or not.

Surprisingly, the ages of the people who have been faced with the death penalty does not really very. The average age at the time the crime is committed is 30. The numbers adding to this average, for the most part, are pretty consistent in staying very close to this number.

Race # of People Percentage Race # of People Percentage

Race of Defendants Executed since 1973 Race of Death Row Inmates

Now that you have read this I hope that you are little bit more aware of the importance of the profile within the death penalty and you understood a little bit more about the death penalty itself. It is a difficult thing to argue because although there is a large amount to discuss, both sides have equally good arguments. The facts about the death penalty are startling. I thought before this project that I supported the death penalty, but after all the information that my group and I dug up, I don’t know which way I’m leaning. The race, age, sex, and social status of the people sentenced has been said to be more helpful to prosecutors in court than hard evidence. Unfortunately, these characteristics are still, even though declared unconstitutional, the major determining factors in many decisions through out society. So to argue this in one aspect of society you would have to get it turned around in almost every aspect and I feel that no matter how hard people try to fight it, these characteristics and the judgments passed on them, are always going to be there.

The race of people is said to be a large and illegal factor in deciding if a person should be sentenced to live or die. According to www.coadp.org, an African American is four times more likely to be sentenced to die than a white man. There have been one hundred and seventy four black people killed when they had a white victim and only twelve white people killed when they had a black victim. The race of the defendants executed since 1973, the race of death row inmates, and the race of the victims is easier to understand through a chart:

Other

Some topics in this essay:
African Americans, Death Penalty, Percentage Black, African American, death penalty, death row, social status, average age, row inmates, death row inmates, Percentage Race, Death Row, Inmates Race, Defendants Executed, Row People, race death row, race age, race death, age social status, age social, People Percentage, race #, role death penalty, inmates race, executed 1973 race,