Another serious problem is the lack of adequate legal representation for all capital defendants. We all know that the more money invested in a person's legal defense, the more likely he or she is going to be found not guilty. For example, George McFarland, sentenced to death in 1992, had a lawyer who slept through most of his four-day trial. But the Constitution does not say that the lawyer has to be awake. In addition, there is the issue of race.
Institutional racism is still a reality in America, most visibly in our criminal justice system.
Racism plays a role at every stage of a capital trial - in jury selection and the presentation of evidence, and even during jury deliberations. It is no wonder that we see racially biased verdicts. A full eighty-four percent of the victims in death penalty cases are white despite the fact that only fifty percent of all murder victims are white. The message is clear - a white person's life is considered more valuable than a black person's. The Fourteenth Amendment states that everyone is to be granted due process and equal protection under the law.