Penological Analysis of Class Discrimination in Sentencing and Administration of the Death Penalty in Drug Offenses (Comparative study)

Sentencing studies in drug offenses show a consistent pattern of the vulnerability of the lower-class offenders and the immunity of the high-class offenders from severe punishments. The current study seeks to answer how the socio-economic status of offenders as an extra-legal factor affects the criminal process of drug offenses eligible death penalty. In this qualitative study, the content of documents, including 74 cases of drug offenses convictions between 2010 and 2020, have been analyzed. In-depth interviews with judicial activists, drug lawyers, Drug Control Headquarters officers, and convicted drug offenders (37 cases) were also used. Our Findings indicate that defendants in criminal prosecution are faced with discriminatory enforcement of Crime detection laws and drug weighing control. Also, Institutional discrimination in the judicial process (the significant differences in performance of Court-Appointed Lawyers and private lawyers), more importantly, Drug-related judicial Corruption and, as a result, charge movement or charge reduction of high-classes offenders (The collection of all these factors) dramatically reduce the probability of prosecuting and convicting high-level traffickers and increase the probability of sentencing low-level drug offenders to the death penalty. In addition, the lack of transparency and discrimination in the clemency process is an opportunity to prevent high-level drug offenders from execution.