AHS surveys reflect national perspectives

AHS is located in one of the most liberal regions in Virginia, ironically, it seems as though the student body is very conservative when it comes to the death penalty and lethal injections.

80 percent of Americans accept the death penalty in some form, whereas AHS has a surprising 79 percent acceptance rate.  What maybe even more surprising is that a whopping 91 percent of white students in our school are always or partially in favor of the death penalty.  Conversely, whites, when compared to African Americans, are in fact twice as likely to receive the death penalty, and are also executed more quickly after sentencing. 

In AHS, among the least supportive of the death penalty are the Asian-American students.  Although still fairly high, only 65 percent of Asian-Americans are always or partially in favor of the death penalty. Where as among African Americans, the 74 percent are always, or partially in favor of the death penalty; which is the second highest in the school.  African Americans make up 42 percent of death row inmates while making up only 12 percent of the general population.

 “Capital punishment deters crime, and improves the community by making sure that convicted criminals do not find their way out onto the streets to offend again, and is cheaper than keeping convicted criminals in high security prisons for the rest of their natural lives,” said freshman Olivia Ko.

 Capital punishment is a controversial issue in the U.S. with many prominent organizations and individuals participating in the debate. Although the death penalty and lethal injections are almost never discussed, many AHS teachers have openly taught or debated the issue in class.  “I discuss the death penalty in my 10th grade government class, and other 12th grade classes.  We can not avoid it, I teach it as a federalism issue, and it also serves as an example of how the Supreme Court defines these issues, ” said social studies teacher MaryAnn Richardson.

Many government classes inevitably discuss the death penalty, whether it be to compare the difference between conservatives and liberals, or to emphasize the importance of the Supreme Court.

 “In my government classes we discuss the death penalty as part of the law unit, it is a very important issue that can tie in due process and how mentally retarded convicts are treated in our judicial system,” said government teacher John Hawes.        
  
Often times, arguments for and against it are based on moral, practical, religious, and emotional grounds. Some opponents of the death penalty claim that “human life should never be lost, especially if the goal is to emphasize the need to stop killings,” said senior Jennifer Thomas.

“I think that only creepy and crazy killers that have repeatedly murdered people should be convicted for the death penalty.  It is the only way to keep people safe, because once you kill, you’ll always have the urge to kill some more,” said junior Sasha Thomas.
A major factor that impacts these decisions is religion.  Religion is a strong and growing force in determining how Americans think about politics. It has a bearing on political affiliation, political values, policy attitudes and candidate choice. Its increasing influence on political opinion and behavior rivals factors such as race, region, age, social class and gender.  More specifically, religion has a strong impact on the political views of Christian Americans who represent 84 percent of the voting age population.

Although still fairly high, only about 2 percent of death row prisoners were exonerated, while others had their sentences reduced for other reasons. 

Various groups oppose or support capital punishment. Amnesty International and some religions oppose capital punishment on moral grounds, while the Innocence Project works to free wrongly convicted prisoners, including death row inmates, based on newly available DNA tests. Other groups, such as the Southern Baptists, law enforcement, and some victims’ rights groups support capital punishment.