In Gregg v Georgia the Supreme Court assumed that racial discrimination would not be a problem under the guided discretion statutes enacted in the wake of the Furman decision Does the evidence support or refute this conclusion This does pose a problem because of consistency The problem with the idea of having consistency in many cases is that not all cases are cut and dry That s why they are pleaded before a jury and a judge Not every case is the same not all circumstances are similar each case is tried individually for these very reasons The idea of guided discretion in my eyes is pertaining to consistency within the courts Many view that if a sentence can not be consistently given then it should be cast out and banned from the courts The problem with this is that not every case would warrant a death penalty Each case is different and they should be tried differently that s why the criminal justice system works the way it does I do have an issue with the idea of racial discrimination being used a crutch in criminal justice system I don t feel that the evidence is supported at all that this takes place Many could argue that there are larger portions of one race in the prison system over others but I would in turn argue that if laws are not broken then there would be no prison time sentenced I have a problem with racial discrimination being used in the criminal justice system because I tend to think that the more we attempt to create an issue that we are divided will only succeed in dividing us As far as guided discretion goes when penalties are given in regards to capital punishment I would say that a judge or judges should be given those decisions It should be the responsibility of the jury to decide if the criminal is guilty and up to the judge to determine sentencing In Gregg v Georgia the evidence supported the conclusion in regard to guided discretion Guided discretion begins with the concept of dividing the Trial into two stages The first stage is the guilt stage The second stage is the sentencing In the Gregg case the Trial was divided into these two stages whereby Gregg was found guilty by a jury and was sentenced to death by a jury in a separate proceeding The next part of guided discretion directs that the death penalty may be imposed if certain aggravating circumstances are present within the crime In the Gregg case these circumstances were present Gregg had committed murder as a means for robbery of both a car and money A jury can also elect to impose a life sentence rather than the death penalty if certain mitigating factors are present In the Gregg case the jury did not find mitigating evidence that would warrant the leniency of a life sentence as opposed to the death penalty Upon jury the jury s decision to enact the death penalty upon Gregg two Justices reviewed the evidence circumstances verdict and sentencing and upheld this decision Racial discrimination is not a factor in guided discretion because the Trial process is divided into phases and certain circumstances must be present within the crime in order for the death penalty to be imposed Race is not a factor but seriousness of the crime mitigating evidence and aggravating evidence is a factor
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