Wojtek, What we do know about the death penalty in the US is that it has been used as part of policy of enforcing social control of the poor in general and especially Blacks in particular. We know, if not common sensically, then empirically, that the overwhelming majority of those sentenced to death would not be sentenced to death if they had a lawyer who performed functions in addition to respiration. And we also know that the dp in the US has also been used against the left on occasion...
You are not mistaken that there are other issues, but is there no relation between them and the DP ? I've not heard a convincing argument in that regard...
Steve
Stephen Philion Lecturer/PhD Candidate Department of Sociology 2424 Maile Way Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 Honolulu, HI 96822