The death penalty and race and how the ultimate punishment highlights the flaws in our criminal justice system
| Autor | Kenneth Williams |
| Cargo | Bachelor of Laws (B.A.) - University of San Francisco (USA); Juris Doctor (J.D.) - University of Virginia Law School (USA); Professor of Law - South Texas College of Law at Houston. |
| Páginas | 6-16 |
Revista Direitos Fundamentais e Alteridade, Salvador, v. 5, n. 2, p. 6-16, jul.-dez., 2021 | ISSN 2595-0614
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Revista Direitos Fundamentais e Alteridade
THE DEATH PENALTY AND RACE AND HOW THE ULTIMATE
PUNISHMENT HIGHLIGHTS THE FLAWS IN OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Kenneth Williams1
Submetido em: 28 jan. 2022
Aceito em: 07 fev. 2022
1. INTRODUCTION
The United States often likes to portray it’s criminal justice system as a model for the rest
of the world. In the U.S. an individual accused of a crime has numerous constitutional and other
protections. Defendants in the United States are presumed innocent.2 They have a right to be
represented at trial by a lawyer even if they cannot afford one.3 Defendants have the right to
confront their accusers face to face.4 If the state is in possession of exculpatory evidence, the
prosecutor has a constitutional duty to disclose this evidence.5 Defendants also cannot languish in
prison for long periods of time as they have the right to a speedy and public trial.6 Finally,
defendants have the right to have the case tried before a jury of their peers and an impartial judge.7
Unfortunately for many defendants these rights are merely theoretical. For many
defendants who are poor, minority and otherwise disadvantaged, these rights are not fully realized.
Nowhere is this more evident than with the death penalty. In this article, I will discuss the capital
punishment system in the United States, a system which highlights some of the systemic problems
that plague the U.S. criminal justice system.
2. DISPROPORTIONATE APPLICATION BASED ON RACE
1
Bachelor of Laws (B.A.) - University of San Francisco (USA); Juris Doctor (J.D.) - University of Virginia Law
School (USA); Professor of Law - South Texas College of Law at Houston.
2 See In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364 (1970).
3 See Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 355 (1963).
4 See U.S. Const. amend. VI.
5 See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).
6 See U.S. Const. amend. VI.
7 Id.
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