Inconsistent sentencing of capital offenders is practiced by states other than New Jersey. In fact, there were no records found which indicate fair sentencing in any state. These are just a few examples of how grossly biased the application of the death penalty is. This brings to mind the 14th amendment to the Constitution, which ensures that all people regardless of race will be protected and prosecuted fairly under the law. Juries throughout our nation's history have proved that we cannot fairly administer the death penalty.
Racial bias is inevitable.
Be it resolved that because social science research has demonstrated the death penalty to be racist in application and social science research has found no consistent evidence of crime deterrence through execution, the ASC publicly condemns this form of punishment and urges its members to use their professional skills in legislatures and the courts to seek a speedy abolition of this form of punishment. Most would agree that the purpose of capital punishment is to deter heinous crimes and to remove individuals who commit these crimes from society forever. While capital punishment may remove some of these individuals, it does not remove all, and some of the individuals it removes from society have not committed heinous crimes. And it has been proven, legal killings are not effective in preventing illegal killings. In 1979 Florida resumed executions after going nearly 15 years without.