Capital Punishment

Abstract

The penalty of death still exists in the US criminal justice system. We present current information on the operations of capital punishment including the volume of cases and persons on death row and the distribution of death row inmates and executions by state. Specific attention is given to the impact of race upon capital sentencing, particularly the introduction of racial bias in terms of the race of the victim in capital cases. The capital‐sentencing system that features “guided discretion” to guide the decision making of prosecutors and juries is presented and explained. For example, aggravating circumstances must be present for a capital case to proceed. The major issues surrounding the use of the death penalty are raised, especially racial bias in sentencing. Current research on whether the death penalty acts as deterrent to homicide is presented as well as public opinion concerning capital punishment and the issue of sentencing innocent people to death.