g because when a life is taken by another it is always wrong. By killing a human being the state lessens the value of life and actually contributes to the growing sentiment in today's society that certain individuals are worth more than others. When the va

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y was intrinsically cruel and unusual but because, as Justice Stewart put it, the "death penalty as actually applied was unconstitutionally arbitrary" (Berger 353). Local politics, money, race, and where the crime is committed can often play a more decisive role in sentencing someone to death than the actual facts of the crime. According to Amnesty International, the "death penalty is a lethal lottery: just one out of every one hundred people arrested for murder is actually executed" (Death Penalty Focus). In regards to racial discrimination in sentencing, it has been found that "racial bias focuses primarily on the race of the victim, not the defendant" (Berger 355). Only 31 out of the more than 15, 000 recorded executions in this country have been of white defendants convicted of killing black victims, while black defendants convicted of raping white women were commonly sentenced to death (Death Penalty Focus). Stephen Nathanson, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern Uni!

versity addresses the problems of discrimination and randomness best by saying, "as long as racial, class, religious, and economic bias continue to be important determinants of who is executed, the death penalty will continue to create and perpetuate injustice" (Nathanson 346). Proponents of capital punishment believe that the argument that the death penalty is discriminatory and arbitrary does not give support to the abolition of capital punishment, but rather to the extension of it. Edward Koch, the former mayor of New York from 1978 to 1989 and death penalty supporter, states that the discriminatory manner of the death penalty "no longer seems to be the problem it once was," yet in 1987, the Supreme Court case of McCleskey v. Kemp established that in Georgia someone who kills a white person is four times more likely to be sentenced to death than someone who kills a black person (Death Penalty Focus). In response to this, supporters of the death penalty believe that the deat!

believe, that capital punishment is morally and ethically acceptable. The bulk of their evidence comes from the Old Testament which actually recommends the use of capital punishment for a number of crimes. Others also quote the Sixth Commandment which, in the original Hebrew reads, "Thou Shall Not Commit Murder." However, these literal interpretations of selected passages from the Bible which are often quoted out of context corrupt the compassionate attitude of Judaism and Christianity, which clearly focuses on redemption and forgiveness, and urges humane and effective ways of dealing with crime and violence. Those who use the Bible to support the death penalty are by themselves since almost all religious groups in the United States regard executions as immoral. They include, American Baptist Churches USA, American Jewish Congress, California Catholic Council, Christian reformed Church, Episcopal Church, Lutheran Church in America, Mennonite General Conference, National Counci!

or Nathanson, "to maintain the death pen

Some common words found in the essay are:
Capital Punishment, Penalty Focus, Dr Ernest, Immanuel Kant, Supreme Court, Law Review, Defense Bedau, Categorical Imperative, Focus Career, Edward Koch, death penalty, capital punishment, death penalty focus, penalty focus, innocent people, discriminatory arbitrary, innocent person, morally ethically, sentenced death, supreme court, cruel unusual, support death penalty, penalty discriminatory arbitrary, innocent people executed, penalty continue create,
Approximate Word count = 2067
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)