Every way you look at it, the death penalty in America has got to go. We are one of the few nations left that executes its citizens. In fact, we can claim this distinction along with the human-rights loving countries of China, Iran and Saudi Arabia (that was sarcasm folks in case you didn’t catch it). The judicial system is fraught with errors and mistakes, and mistakes should never be made when human lives are at stake.

First off, the death penalty is racist. In 1990 the U.S. General Accounting Office found “a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty.” A study done in Philadelphia found that African-Americans are four times more likely to receive the death penalty. Not only does the race of the defendant play a part, but the race of the victim does too. Eighty percent of death row inmates were convicted for killing whites, even though whites make up 50 percent of murder victims nationally. For example, in the state of Kentucky, 1,000 African- Americans have been executed since 1975 (when the death penalty was reinstated) but all 39 of the state’s death row inmates were there for murdering whites, none for murdering blacks.

As if that were not bad enough, the death penalty discriminates against the poor as well. In most capital cases, it is the quality of the lawyer and not the facts of the case that determine whether the death penalty is imposed. Having an incompetent lawyer should not be reason to die, but that has often become the case, since lawyers who are overworked, underpaid and inexperienced are the ones defending the poor. Wealthy Americans are almost always spared the death penalty, since they have lawyers who can spend the 700-1,000 hours necessary on their case. The idea behind the death penalty is to kill those who have committed the most heinous crimes, but that is not the case. Rather it is those who are most disadvantaged in our society who are sent to death.

The other danger within the death penalty (as if being racist and discriminatory to the poor was not enough) is the chance of killing innocent people. After all, “to err is human” and we have erred in the past and are likely to do so again. During the years 1973 and 2002, 99 people in 24 different states have been released from death row after it was discovered that they were innocent. It has been documented that 23 innocent people have been executed, possibly many more. It was after 13 inmates on Illinois’ death row were found innocent that Governor George Ryan announced a moratorium on executions.

However, arguments still remain to keep the death penalty. People often speak of the cost of life imprisonment or the deterrence offered by capital punishment. Nevertheless these two reasons are myths that need deflating. First off, cost should not be an issue to begin with since it is human life we are talking about, but it is an issue that affects and influences people nonetheless. The idea that killing someone is cheaper than life imprisonment is false. For instance, it costs Texas, on average, $2.3 million for each execution while lifetime imprisonment runs from $800,000 to $1 million. Capital punishment is not a deterrent to serious crime either. The state of mind of the average criminal at the time of the crime is usually irrational (since they often act under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, or act with fear, rage, panic or suffer from mental illness) so the thought of punishment by death is far from their minds. For pre-meditated murders, the murderer does not plan on getting caught so he or she is not daunted by capital punishment. Other studies have shown no link between states that enforce the death penalty and lower rates of homicide or other serious crimes.

So whether or not you think the idea of capital punishment is moral and acceptable, the facts speak for themselves. The current system is arbitrary, racist, discriminatory, expensive and needs to end.

Tonight, Amnesty International is sponsoring a speaker from Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation. She will be discussing her experiences and how they have shaped her views on the death penalty. Join Amnesty at 8 p.m. in the Argentum Room for an informative and moving speech. After hearing her speech and learning more about the death penalty perhaps you too can say, “Don’t Kill for Me.”

Data from Amnesty International and ACLU

Lubna Alam is a junior studying history.