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A Response to a Reaction Statement: “Race, Law and Punishment: The Death Penalty” April 17, 2002 Racist sentiment has played a large role in the death penalty and the administration thereof. Although many courts have not wanted to acknowledge or address this issue, racial selectivity has been brought to the attention of various levels of courts, regarding capital punishment. For instance, the case of the Martinsville Seven, brought into plain view, “both the presence of racial discrimination in sentencing and the determination of judges to avoid acknowledging that presence”.(312) Seven men in Martinsville, Virginia were found guilty of raping a white woman. The attorney appealed on grounds of unfair racial selectivity, asserting that the death penalty had been discriminately issued. This is the first case in which the death penalty for rape was seriously questioned. The appeal was rejected because the courts did not want to acknowledge that race had played a large role in who they sentenced to death. The court contended that punishment in other cases did not justify how they should rule on the current case. Other issues that arose from this case was the question of remedy if the courts were to address the racial selectivity concern.
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