Economic Factors
A study by David Jacobs, professor of sociology at Ohio State, showed that a higher level of economic inequality within a state made it more likely that states would have the death penalty.
Statistics shows that 90 % of the inmates on the death row in the U.S. are the poor because they cannot afford private investigators, psychiatrists, and expert criminal lawyers to help with the trial.
The death penalty is more than double the expense of life imprisonment. The Miami Herald reported that Florida, with one of the nation's largest number of death row inmates, estimated the cost of each execution was approximately ,000. This is six times their cost of life imprisonment. In 1988 and 1989, the Kansas legislature voted against reinstating the death penalty because it would cost over million.
Cultural Factors
A study found blacks are 3.9 times more likely to receive the death penalty than whites accused of the same crime. In September 2000, the Justice Department reported African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities were considered for the death penalty more than whites. In the State of Pennsylvania, while minority population is about 12%, two-thirds of the inmates sentenced to death are minorities.
Recent polls show that 75% of U.S. citizens favor the death penalty. Yet the U.S. Catholic bishops, along with many other Christians and Jews, have spoken out against the capital punishment. In this term, religion is not seems like to have influence on the death penalty.
Political Factors
In 1972, Furman v. Georgia, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Georgia statute, which gives the jury complete discretion to decide death or life imprisonment upon conviction of Murder, was unconstitutional. A 5-4 plurality opinion held that the death penalty was applied in a "freakish and wanton" manner due to unguided jury discretion. The majority ruled that they constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. Only two of the justices concurring in the decision (Justices Brennan and Marshall) declared capital punishment to be unconstitutional in all instances, however; other concurrences by Justices Douglas, Stewart, and White focused on the arbitrariness of the application of capital punishment, including the appearance of racial bias against black defendants.
The practical effect of the decision was to strike down existing statutes in all states, and removing approximately 629 inmates from death row. 35 states responded immediately by enacting new death penalty statutes, which provides either for a mandatory death sentence, or carefully guided jury discretion.
Until the decision reversed in 1976, there was an unofficial moratorium on the U.S. death penalty.
Social Factors
The study by David Jacobs shows states with a larger proportion of African Americans were more likely to have the death penalty on the record. Jacobs said, "the results fit with other research showing that in areas where the percentage of minorities is higher, crime control efforts are enhanced in part because whites become more fearful as minority populations become larger." Also, he went on to say, "the link between race and capital punishment remains strong, even though the effects of race on punishment probably are less now than they were in the past."
Jacobs did another study of how long it took after 1976 (after South Carolina reversed Furman's case) for states to decide to revise their laws to conform to South Carolina's altered requirements. The results duplicate the other findings. The states with more blacks, and with more economic inequality, took shorter time to make the death penalty legal again.
Physical Factors
There is evidence that shows how an accused person may suffer in our current judicial system. The report of Death Penalty Infomation Center highlights the most common failures of the system, including:
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Despite the constitutional requirement that lawyers be provided, there are no lawyers to represent people in some municipal and state courts. Almost everyone is processed through those courts without a lawyer.
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In some counties, people languish in jail for weeks or months before meeting with a lawyer, despite the Georgia Supreme Court requirement that lawyers be appointed within 72 hours of arrest and meet promptly with their clients.
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Even after a lawyer has been appointed, many people cannot communicate with their lawyers because the lawyers do not visit the jail, accept telephone calls from their clients, or reply to letters, despite requirements that they consult with their clients and keep them informed of the status of their cases. Many people meet their court-appointed lawyers for the first time in court and are advised minutes later to plead guilty before the lawyer has done any investigation, research or preparation.
- In many counties, attorneys who have little or no interest, skill, or experience in criminal law or trial advocacy routinely represent the poor in criminal cases.
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