Another reason for abolishing the death penalty is the apparent discrimination by which it has been applied. Studies show that there are a larger percentage of blacks on death row than their percentage of the population. The racial balance is off in many other states as well. It is widely believed that many states, especially those in the South, are biased against blacks and that blacks receive proportionally more death sentences than whites. That in it s self is a violation of the Constitutional guarantee , of due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
Studies also show that juries are harsher towards non-whites that murder whites.
The two hundred twenty-seven inmates executed be tween 1976 and 1994 had killed three hundred two victims. The death penalty is considered to be within the boundaries of the Constitution and not to be cruel and unusual punishment but the system has executed more than twenty innocent people. DNA testi ng could help determine the innocence of some prisoners who appeal their sentences. Other studies also show that the murder rate is not higher in the states with o ut the death penalty. In Canada the homicide rate was at its peak the year before the abolishing of the death penalty.