ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF IMPOSING DEATH PENALTY

Ethical Implications of Imposing Death Penalty

Ethical Implications of Imposing Death Penalty

Introduction

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, the vast majority of executions have been carried out in Southern states, with 85% of all death sentences carried out in this region of the country. Beginning in 1976 and by mid-2006, Texas had the most executions with 364, followed by Virginia with 95, and then Florida with 60 (Bohm, 2006). California has the largest death row population, with 649 people, followed by Texas and Florida, with 409 and 388, respectively. In keeping with prior trends, of the 60 people executed in 2005, 73% had killed White victims (Acker, 2007). In contrast, no Whites were executed in the United States in 2005 for the murder of a Black person. Critics of the death penalty have pointed to the racial disparity in such statistics as a major problem in the implementation of the death penalty and have called for a moratorium until the issue of discrimination within the criminal justice system can be further addressed (Coyne, 2008).

There have been several very important U.S. Supreme Court cases in recent years that have resulted in significant changes in the numbers and composition of death row inmates. First, and arguably receiving the most attention at home and abroad, in 2005 the Court held in Roper v. Simmons (2005) that the imposition of the death penalty on juveniles offended societal standards of decency.

This controversial ruling immediately resulted in the commutation of more than 150 sentences of people on death row to life sentences because the crimes were committed when these people were under the age of 18 (Acker, 2007). This decision was heralded by anti-death penalty groups and international human rights advocates who had condemned the United States for being one of the few countries to still execute juveniles.

Discussion

A growing body of neuropsychological research has confirmed that juveniles differ from adults in important ways. For instance, recent research has indicated that the areas of the brain that control reasoning (e.g., the prefrontal cortex) are the last to develop (Coyne, 2008). As such, juveniles are less competent than adults, with less-developed capabilities for concentration, control of impulsivity, self-monitoring, and decision making. Because these areas of the brain are underdeveloped, juveniles rely more heavily on the amygdala, the area of the brain that processes emotions. Thus, juveniles are biologically different in ways ...