There are people on death row

For that we cannot justify

We cannot have become this low

The outcome is to be determined by race

Because history shows that's how it works

One look of the face and that's all it takes

Discrimination is at its worst

Some may be put to death

The death penalty is unfair

White males convicted are at its less

Many say it's wrong, they glare

This has ruined lives

Even though innocent is what they say

Many will not survive

They say do not kill

But then they go against their word

And they will go against their will

¨The death penalty shows that killing is okay, therefore it should not be used,¨ said one member.

 Everyone at the meeting each said their opinions with evidence and reasoning to support it. One member who was for the death penalty said,

¨It would eliminate criminals permanently and it´s better for them to die quickly rather than rot in a jail cell for the rest of their lives.¨

 Then another member argued that ¨killing is not the right thing to do; in fact, you cannot punish killing with killing.¨

 The third member brought a whole new topic to the table and asked the question about who got into the death penalty and why. He brought up many reasons and evidence on how racial discrimination is relevant, and how people are on death row for factors that are not fit to the situation. This point brought up a whole new level of discussion that is still being discussed to this day. Racial discrimination within the justice system.

Not only through the death penalty, there is racial discrimination, it also goes out throughout the entire criminal justice system. For example, the national academy of sciences found that blacks are more likely than whites to be incarcerated while awaiting trial. ¨Racism may well be the biggest crime in the criminal legal system. If present trends continue, 1 of every 4 African American males born this decade can expect to go to prison in his lifetime¨(Quigley). There are many more cases like this where race determines certain outcomes of situations involving the justice system in the U.S. 

¨A man named Anthony Ray Hinton was on death row for about 30 years¨ (Richard). There was a gun found in his home and he was thought to have killed someone. It later turned out he didn't do anything nor commit any kind of crime. He was on death row for most of his life because of assumptions and discrimination towards him. Anthony later talked about that if he was a white male the circumstances would have been different.  ¨"Being on death row has taken so much from me as a human being," he says. "I spent 30 years on death row for something I didn't  do."      While a dramatic reduction in death  sentences has spared hundreds of defendants from the ultimate penalty, the  roughly 3,000 people on death row are avoiding the execution chamber largely as  a result of legal battles, political backlash, medical and moral debates over  execution methods--and new information that has led to 155 exonerations.¨ (Johnson). This shows how many people being on death row could actually be there for a crime they didn´t commit, and how it could affect their lives.

Heyns, Christof, and Juan Mendez. "Time to Kill the Federal Death Penalty." Wall Street Journal. 05 Nov. 2015: A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

Jacoby, Jeff. "When Murder Is Punished with Death, Fewer Criminals Will Murder." Boston Globe. 26 Aug. 2016: K.5. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

Wolf, Richard, and Kevin Johnson. "Decades of Life Stolen from Men Facing Death." USA TODAY. 16 Sep. 2015: A.8. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.