The case involves a convicted drug smuggler and murderer, who is in a special unit at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, with 18 other inmates awaiting to die. There is no date set for the execution. When the U.S Supreme Court stopped the state death penalty in 1972, it also put a halt to federal execution. Since then the death penalty has adopted new procedures and been expanded by the number of federal crimes by which it is covered. The Justice Department has been reviewing whether the racial minorities have been unfairly given more death sentences than white defendants have been given.
People say the system is as fair as it can be.
The study would not prevent the Bureau of Prisons from setting an execution date for any of the 21 people on federal death row. Two-thirds of those prisoners are minorities. Reno has authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in 149 out of 517 cases that were reviewed under her procedure. The ACLU opposes the death penalty and has sought to tell the public about the racially unfair manner of punishment. Recently the death penalty has been covered in the media and has been discussed in many movies.