Mr. Khavari's piece questioning the practice of the death penalty in the United States ("Deadly decisions", Oct. 12) was very-well argued and I completely agree with the points he discussed. However, there was one particular aspect of the death penalty that was ignored: racism.
Racism is so prevalent in the judicial system and greatly influences who is considered for the death penalty. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, "In 82% of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks." To go further, of people who have been executed for interracial murders since 1979, 243 were black people who murdered white people versus 15 white people who murdered black people. An article published earlier this year by researchers David Baldus and George Woodworth discusses how their findings, which include cases up to 2003, show that race is still a huge issue in capital punishment.
I found it disturbing that a discussion about the death penalty ignored such an important issue that is still relevant today, despite the claims of some that we live in a "post-racial" world.
Suzanne Spatz\nCLAS III
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