John McAdams

About the author: John McAdams is a professor of political science at Marquette University.

The argument that the death penalty should be abolished because it is unfair—particularly that it is applied in a racially biased manner —is illogical. On the one hand, death penalty opponents contend that African Americans are more likely than whites to receive death sentences. On the other hand, these critics also argue that murderers of blacks are treated more leniently than murderers of whites. However, since the vast majority of homicides involve perpetrators and victims of the same race, it is generally blacks who are convicted for murdering blacks. Therefore, the claim that killers of blacks are treated more leniently contradicts the argument that blacks are overrepresented on death row. The truth is...