PHIL 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Anger Management
Document Summary
African american defendants receive the death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants in cases where the victims are white. In modern society dp is reserved for only the most severe crimes. Justification is that those people are no longer fit to live in society, we owe them nothing, or at least very little. Those sentenced to dp are sometimes wrongly sentenced (innocent criminals, dna) Many suggest the dp counts as cruel and unusual punishment due to long waits on death row as well as what the punishment says about society. Long waits are necessary for appeals process to ensure justice. Equal retribution- punishment fits the crime- rape rapist, torture torturers. Barbaric- causes us to cross a line, undermine our own humanity. Does not yield appropriate penalties for all crimes (dui, drug use, hijacking) Proportional retribution- punishment must be proportional in severity. Placing an upper cap on punishment severity does not yield dp.
