The death penalty has been and remains a poor man's punishment. As an old saying puts it, "only those without capital get capital punishment." There are no rich men or women on death row, and no rich person has ever been executed in America. The reasons are many. The rich can avail themselves of good lawyers who help their privileged clients avoid death sentences by artful plea bargaining or skillful courtroom tactics. The poor often get shoddy legal defense.
Robert Johnson, Death Work, Second Edition, 1998
Robert Johnson, Death Work, Second Edition, 1998
I believe we are unfortunately seeing this in the last days of the Trump admin.
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