Script+and+Reflection

media type="file" key="sociology voice thread.mp3"Welcome! As you browse this pathfinder you will find information on the influence of race when it comes to capital punishment in the United States. Capital punishment is the punishment of death for a crime also known as the death penalty. The goal for this pathfinder was to find information on how judges and jurors are influenced by not only the race of the defendants, but also the race of the victims. Through researching I found that the major races being given the death penalty were Caucasians and African Americans. When it came to the race of the defendants, more Caucasians were executed than African Americans. When it came to the race of the victims those who had killed Caucasians were executed more over those who killed African Americans.

 Through my research the one thing that was clear was that when it comes to the sentencing of the death penalty it is not fair. Not every person is treated the same even if they committed the same crime. However, when it came to researching the impact of race on the death penalty, I found that there were many other factors involved with sentencing one to the death penalty. One of these other factors being the wealth of the defendant and therefore whether they could afford a good attorney. While many other factors are involved in the sentencing of the death penalty, I did find some very resourceful sources that discuss the impact race has when it comes to the death penalty.

 One very helpful resource I found when researching this topic was the book titled //Capital Punishment Cruel and Unusual? // by Mei Ling Rein. This book is a good place to start if you are researching capital punishment in the United States. It not only gives you information on how race comes into play with the sentencing of the death penalty, but also goes into many other factors related to the death penalty. Some of the areas it goes into, besides race, include the history of the death penalty in the United States, the methods of execution, statistics on those executed, the public’s views on the death penalty, and the debate over whether it is moral or immoral. It also includes a variety of statistics on the death penalty that can be very useful when researching the impact of race on the death penalty. This book can be found on the “Books, ebooks, reference” page of this wiki, along with another useful book entitled //Debating the Death Penalty: Should America have capital punishment? //

 If your focus is solely on the impact of race on the sentencing of the death penalty there are various sources throughout this pathfinder that will lead you to very helpful information, as finding information on the impact of race was the goal of this pathfinder. While searching for information on the impact of race on the sentencing of the death penalty you can find an abundant amount of information, however you need to sort through the sources that are just on capital punishment in general. If you go to the “primary sources” page of this pathfinder you will find an historic document entitled "Court on Death Penalty and Race." This source gives experts from the court’s decision in the //McCleskey v. Kemp // case. Within the excerpts it includes how two professors did a study that claimed that inequality of the death sentence imposed on McCleskey was based on the race of the murder victim and the race of the defendant. If you go to the “popular articles” page on this pathfinder you will find an article entitled "Legislation Will Help Prevent Racial Bias in Death Penalty Convictions." This article deals with capital punishment in North Carolina and not only goes into how race plays an impact, but also how its legislation will move towards preventing racial bias in future capital punishment cases. Thirdly if you go under the “media” section you will find a video of experts who discuss capital punishment. In the video they get into a study that was done that showed just how much the death penalty was impacted by the race of the defendants. Lastly one of the best sources I found if you go under the “major websites and portals” section was the “Death Penalty Information Center” website. This site gives information on all aspects of capital punishment, but provides very useful statistics that show how the race of the defendants compared to the race of the victims impacts those who are executed.

 The few sources mentioned above, while I found them to be the most helpful, are not the only helpful sources. If you browse throughout the rest of the pathfinder you will find helpful resources dealing with how judges and jurors are influenced by the race of the defendants and of the victims, and therefore on who gets executed. I hope you find this pathfinder useful for your research topic.