Many are unfamiliar with the reality of death row, for the corporationist press paints a picture of death row as the abode of the worst of the worst, while a truer picture is of those who are the poorest of the poor, or even the weakest of the weak. In Philadelphia alone, dozens of people have been slain in the streets as local Mafia wars raged over a decade. How can this be, you ask, and the answer is simple. Real Mafia guys are able to afford the best lawyers that money can buy, while the poor schmuck is left with court-appointed lawyers, hardly the best in the craft.
Death row is the prerogative of the poor.
Death Row is not just a poor place, but a predominantly black place, with most from Philadelphia. These same actors in the containment system have treated the Batson case as a joke. What the case claims, and what the courts actually do, are two very different things. Perhaps this group will begin the process of change. I, we, certainly hope so.