Classism

I have been asked to post some of my personal opinions on the issues surrounding the death penalty and my reasons for coming to those opinions. I will start today with something from the Farrell speech, infra. Capital punishment in the United States is inherently classist. Take the case of OJ Simpson for example...do you think that if OJ was an unknown indigent black man from East LA who was accused of killing his wife and her friend with the same evidence that he would have been found not guilty? With the exact same evidence, innocent or not, if OJ had been the East LAite I describe, chances are he would have been convicted. He would not have been able to afford his own attorney, not to mention his own herd of attorneys. He would have been saddled with a public defender who likely had a case load of over 300 cases for the year (as opposed to the 1 or 2 cases Simpson's team handled that year). His case would not have been on television, and he more than likely would have been chained to the table in an orange jump suit. The double murder would have landed OJ on death row if he had been convicted. How many people think he would have been found not guilty if he had not been able to hire the counsel he did? How many people think he would have been found not guilty if he had been forced to rely on a (highly competent!) worn out/over worked public defender? It would have been a very different story for Orenthal James Simpson if he hadn't had the money and fame he had. I'm not saying he committed those murders...what I'm saying is that he would have been more likely to have been found guilty of them if he hadn't been who he was. Its an extreme classism example, I know.

Its been 7 years or so since OJ was acquitted. His execution would be fast approaching if he was sitting on death row. I have to wonder...how many more are there out there who might have been found not guilty if they'd had the money to pay counsel as OJ did? Whether you think OJ is innocent or guilty, it is still food for thought. It is especially food for thought if OJ (and his East LA alter ego) did not commit the crime.