Prosecutors play a central role both in weaponizing personality disorder labels in capital cases and in oppressing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (“BIPOC”) within the criminal legal system. This is especially true for antisocial and psychopathic personality disorder labels. Because there are common mechanisms underlying both processes, it is possible that prosecutors’ misuse of these personality disorder labels is susceptible to racialization. Thus, we may contextualize prosecutors’ exploitation of personality disorder labels in capital cases within the larger historical project of upholding white supremacy and subjugating people of color.
As long as the death penalty is vulnerable to implicit biases held by agents within the criminal legal system and subject to racially disparate applications, lawmakers must implement change. Lawmakers must transform the death penalty through implementing evidentiary, educational, and disciplinary safeguards that target each actor involved in these decisions. If these precautions, collectively, are not sufficient, lawmakers must abolish state and federal governments’ power to execute their citizens.
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