Putting the death penalty to death

The death penalty is outdated. Photo courtesy of NPR.  SADIA KHATRI | OPINION COLUMNIST | sskhatri@butler.edu  Capital punishment has long been a pillar of the American criminal justice system and is alleged to be a form of punishment for only the most heinous of crimes. But — as with most things in the U.S. — the death penalty is heavily racialized. Though Black Americans only make up about 16% of the population, Black individuals make up over 40% of the death row population. Black defendants are also three times more likely to receive the death penalty, compared to their white counterparts, if the victim of the case was white.  Jishnu Guha-Majumdar, an assistant professor of political science, stressed that racist stereotypes and prejudices fuel how we perceive crime and criminals.  “There’s all sorts of evidence that when people commit the same crimes, people of color tend to get punished more,” Guha-Majumdar said. “It’s only natural that the death penalty will be seen in that way, right? Black and Latino people, but men especially, are seen as more scary. So [through] the crimes they commit they’re more likely to be painted as incorrigible monsters.” The troubling racial makeup of those on...