HATE CRIMES PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

Crimes Prejudice & Discrimination

Crimes Prejudice & Discrimination

Introduction

Prejudice is defined asa negative attitude toward a the individuals of a group. There are many minority groups in the US that face many troubles and discrimination. Based on the conflict theory, prejudice and discrimination is used as a tool against the minorities. Hate crimes prejudice and discrimination are a broad topic. In this research paper, we are going to racial discrimination in capital sentencing. In the following section we are going to discuss this topic in details as well I will include some relevant case in this regard.

Discussion

The issues of racial stereotype and corresponding biases consistently find their way into the discourse in the social sciences and legal arenas. The Supreme Court ruled in a number of cases presenting 14th Amendment challenges concerning discriminatory application of the law based on race, e.g., housing, employment practices, and public facilities. However, the standards the Court used in those cases is not consistent with the showing necessary to prove that equal protection violations are occurring in capital cases.

In McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987), the Supreme Court dealt with the issue of racial discrimination in capital sentencing by answering the following question: Whether a complex statistical study that indicates a risk that racial considerations enter into capital sentencing determinations proves that petitioner McCleskey's capital sentence is unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments? The defendant, McCleskey, was a black man convicted and sentenced to death for killing a white police officer during the course of a robbery.

McCleskey offered no mitigating evidence at sentencing. On appeal, McCleskey argued that his 8th and 14th Amendment rights were violated through the Georgia death penalty statute. The defendant argued that statistical evidence demonstrated discriminatory intent by the Georgia statute in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. McCleskey further argued that his sentence of death was in violation of the Amendment because it was disproportionate compared to offenders with blameless victims, and the level of juror discretion allowed for racial prejudices, to enter into decisions. McCleskey introduced a study that was performed by David Baldus, Charles Pulaski, and George Woodworth (hereafter, the Baldus study) in support of his claims of discrimination(Russell 2006). The Baldus study examined over 2000 murder cases in Georgia during the 1970s and controlled for over 230 variables. The study showed that black defendants who kill white victims were more likely to be put to death, than any other interracial defendant and victim combination.6 Nevertheless, while acknowledging racial disparities in capital sentencing, the Court reasoned that the Baldus study was “insufficient to support an inference that any of the decision makers in the case acted with discriminatory purpose” (McCleskey v. Kemp, 1987: 296).

To support the equal protection challenge, McCleskey would have to prove that the purpose of the Georgia death penalty statute was to create and maintain an anticipated discriminatory effect (McCleskey v. Kemp, 1987: 299).

Another legitimate difficulty surrounds selecting a jury for a capital ...