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The Death Penalty System
Overview
The constitutionality of the death penalty has frequently been questioned in courtrooms across the country and in the court of public opinion. The debate frequently centers around several central themes, including: (a) whether the death penalty has a deterrent effect, (b) whether the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment, and (c) whether the death penalty is administered in violation of the principle requiring equal treatment under the law.
Many people believe that it is cruel and unjust for our criminal justice system to determine whether a person lives or dies. Those sentiments are shared by elected officials in 12 U.S. states that ban the death penalty and in most European countries where the death penalty is considered a clear infringement of internationally recognized human rights norms.
The application of the death penalty is also a factor. Although most people on death row are white, more black defendants are executed for so-called "interracial murders" where the victim is white. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office, the race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty in 82 percent of the cases reviewed. That means that blacks who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks.
Opponents of the death penalty also argue that its administration exhibits discrimination based on economic status. For many people opposed to state-sponsored executions, the death penalty system is seen as inequitable because those who can afford the best lawyers typically do not get the death penalty and those who cannot afford the best are at risk of being executed. To ensure fairness in the death penalty system, the ACLU of Florida, along with many other organizations, is calling for a moratorium on executions until these systemic inequities are addressed.
Last January, death penalty opponents marched to Tallahassee with petitions signed by more than 20,000 citizens urging a "time-out" on executions. ACLU of Florida's Legislative Staff Counsel Larry Spalding stated, "Until we begin to address the systemic problems that send innocent people to death row ? because of false and/or mistaken testimony, prosecutorial misconduct or untrustworthy jailhouse snitches ? those defendants who can't afford the best defense are going to be left without justice."
The number of exonerations nationwide points directly to a severe problem in the administration of the death penalty process. "I'm not pointing fingers? maybe it was a mistake, maybe incompetence," said Ray Krone, the 100th person exonerated (freed from blame) and released from death row in the U.S. since the death penalty was re-instituted in the mid-1970s. Krone was released in 2002 after spending ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit. DNA evidence, which was not introduced at the original trial, not only exonerated Krone, but also linked the crime to another person. In Florida, 24 exonerees have been released from Death Florida ? the highest number of any other state in the nation.
The cases of two of Florida's longest-serving death-row inmates have recently sparked new debate over the constitutionality of Florida's death penalty system. Gov. Jeb Bush set an execution date of Dec. 2 for Amos Lee King Jr. and Dec. 6 for Linroy Bottoson. Their cases, which call into question the legality of a system that permits judges to disregard a jury's recommendation of life imprisonment rather than death and allows judges, not juries, to sentence inmates to death, may be examined by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers for Bottoson and King have filed appeals with the Nation's High Court, seeking to stop their executions until the court can consider whether Florida's death penalty system should be completely overhauled.
