Stay of Execution

This article caught my attention for several reasons. Firstly, it is addressing a topic that is very controversial at this moment, and because of this will be a topic whose discussion will be understandable and passionately fought for on both sides. Secondly, this article was interesting to me because the story it tells is proof that discrimination still exists, and that the justice system in America is not neccessarily a thing of perfection.

While reading this article I, as well as the author, was shocked at the injustice that went on during Mr. Buck's trial in 1997. The witness who testfied about the influence of the defendent's skin color on the likeliness that he would kill again was very far out of line and has no factual proof to back up his or her claims.

The author's point of view on the subject of Mr. Buck's sentence is let known after the first paragraph, when he states that " [Supreme Court] ...cannot allow a terrible injustice to stand."
The author's point of view on capital punishment, however, isn't as clear until the last paragraph, when he calls the death penalty "cruel...discriminitory... and barbaric..." and says that it "must be abolished." Throughout the article, the author uses derogatory terms like "refused" and "improperly" to put the government, namely the district attorney and the attorney general, in a bad light. His article is written in a way that almost makes Mr. Buck, the convicted murderer, seem like the victim. I think that this article would be able to sway some peoples opinions on capital punishment. It was written well, and it leaves the reader wondering how many others there are like Mr. Buck, and how many have been wrongly executed under such circumstances.


"Stay of Execution"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/opinion/stay-of-execution.html?scp=1&sq=stay%20of%20execution&st=Search