Melvin Watt: “Mr. Chairman, the effect of this amendment would be to strike the provision in the bill which provides for a death…”

“Mr. Chairman, the effect of this amendment would be to strike the provision in the bill which provides for a death penalty for drug kingpins. I am an opponent of the death penalty, but that is not what this argument is about. I would say that if I were to support a death penalty, it would certainly be a death penalty for drug kingpins. One might wonder then why am I here offering this amendment. I would say to this body that there are three reasons. No. 1, this language in the bill, which provides for a death penalty when death does not result from the underlying crime, is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has indicated that a death must result in order for a death penalty to be applicable. And the drug kingpin statute, of course, results in no death. No. 2, although I would probably favor a death penalty for drug kingpins, the history of application of the existing drug kingpin statute has indicated that it will be applied in a racially discriminatory way. There have been 37 prosecutions since 1988, when the drug kingpin statute was passed. Thirty-three of those prosecutions have been against black or Hispanic individuals.”