Part I: Mark Costanzo; Part II: Friends Committee on National Legislation

In Part I of the following two-part viewpoint, Mark Costanzo argues that the death penalty is arbitrary and discriminatory. Murderers of whites are more likely to receive the death penalty than are murderers of blacks, he points out, and the poor—who generally receive substandard legal assistance— are executed more often than the rich. Costanzo is the author of Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. In Part II, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobbying group, compares two similar murder cases to see if racial bias influenced sentencing. They discover that the race of the victim determined whether the prosecutors sought a life sentence or the death penalty.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Costanzo, who has...