The execution of Karla Faye Tucker, who had become a born-again Christian while in prison, in 1998 shattered faith in capital punishment in the right-wing evangelical community. Led by Pat Robertson, Christian conservatives had unsuccessfully pleaded for clemency in Tucker’s case, citing her religious conversion as a reason for mercy. Horrified, Robertson (the very same man who called capital punishment “ a necessary corrective to violent crime” in 1988) denounced the “animal vengeance” corrupting American society (Gross 28). “Evangelical Instincts Against Her Execution Were Right, But Not Because She Was a Christian.” read the revolutionary headline that ran in the nation’s leading evangelical publication soon after Tucker’s execution. Criticizing capital punishment as discriminatory and vengeful, the editors concluded, “the death penalty has outlived its usefulness.” To the delight of abolitionist groups, Robertson went even further this past April when he voiced he support for a general moratorium on the death penalty showcasing just how radically discussion of the issue has evolved among Christian fundamentalists (Gross 28). “Even Jerry Falwell, Christ’s personal used-car salesman, opined that Karla Faye Tucker’s conversion made her deserving of life, and word has it her even asked mercy for a Black Muslim named Shaka Sankofa, once Gary Graham, dead as of June 22, thanks to George W. Bush, in Texas.” (Farrel 6)

There are several chief qualms with the death penalty that encapsulate the opinions of those of the left wing. Among these are that capital punishment is “cruel and usual”, “epitomizes the tragic inefficacy and brutality of violence”, “denies due process of law”, “violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection”, “is not a viable form of crime control”, “wastes resources” and “is a violent spectacle of official homicide” (Bedau).

Another major augment against the death penalty is that it violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. This is the case in that it is randomly and discriminatorily applied. “It is imposed disproportionately upon those whose victims are white, offenders are people of color, and on those who are poor and uneducated.” (Bedau) An article in the September 26, 2000 issue of The Progressive boldly supports this view, suggesting that the death penalty is indeed unethical in that it infringes on constitutional guarantee of equal protection. According to the article, data released by the U.S. Department of Justice suggests that capital punishment system is indeed racist. “Of the 682 defendants facing capital charges in federal cases since 1996, blacks, Latinos and other people of color made up 8 percent of the total. Over the past five years, 48 % of those people whose cases were submitted to the Justice Department for review were African American, 29 % Latino and 20 % white. Of the 19 people currently sentenced to death under federal law, 15 are people of color. Thirteen of those are black.” (Love) Additionally, the article points out that “geography also plays a roles in who is chosen to be executed on the federal level” and “noted that blacks were much more likely to face the death penalty for killing whites than were white defendants who killed minorities.” In response to these and other findings, figures of the left wing are speaking out. “The entire criminal-justice system is rife with racism, and this is nowhere more evident than in the administration of the death penalty,” said Diann Rust-Tierney, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project. “What is this, some form of natural selection? Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-I11 said, “death-penalty Darwinism? Death-penalty survival of the fittest?” (Love) Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun (once a supporter of executions) commented on the unfair application of capital punishment in th

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