Criminal justice reform is a key component of the fight for racial equality. While certainly people of all races are impacted by this system, it disproportionately harms African Americans and Hispanics as shown by data from the Pew Research Center (also showing that the gap is narrowing).
The death penalty, in particular, is inherently flawed according to data shared by the Equal Justice Initiative founded by Bryan Stevenson and featured in the movie, “Just Mercy.” “For every nine people executed, one person on death row has been exonerated.”
“Official misconduct is more common in death penalty cases, especially if the defendant is black. Data shows that 87% of black exonerees who were sentenced to death were victims of official misconduct, compared to 67% of white death row exonerees.” – Bryan Stevenson
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