While Europe, arguably the most socially advanced region on earth, has abolished the death penalty, some states continue to employ this barbaric practice against only a relative handful of murderers. However, there are two trends that could hasten the elimination of the death penalty in the United States.

United States Census Bureau projections reveal that people of color, including White Hispanics, will be the numerical majority in the United States by 2042. A 2007 Pew Research Center report found that while 68% of Whites favored the death penalty, less than 50% of Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latinos, and Blacks favored the death penalty.

What will happen to the political will for executions when the balance of racial demographics tips in favor of people of color? Other factors may come into play over the coming decades that could provide impetus for the continuation of the death penalty. However, pro-death penalty advocates will be challenged to find comfort in the emerging demographic patterns. The current names associated with ethnic groups may well change over the coming decades as more individuals identify themselves as bi-racial. However, one thing is certain. Non-Whites and White Hispanics will continue to increase their political influence within the American electoral process, with Whites becoming a relatively shrinking minority.

Latinos, who are mostly Roman Catholic, are the largest minority group. The Catholic Church is opposed to the death penalty. Central and South America is largely a death penalty free zone. The prospect of Latinos favoring the death penalty is therefore unlikely. African-Americans, the second-largest minority group, are strongly opposed to the death penalty. The racial demographics therefore suggest declining support for the death penalty in America.

The 2008 election was a clear indicator of the diminishing influence of Whites in American society. President-elect Barak Obama was not the choice of White America. Indeed, he was strongly rejected by double digits by White voters 56% to 43%. (Source: New York Times Exit Polls). This was especially the case in the former slave states, such as Alabama, where 91% of White voters chose the Republican candidate John McCain. Yet he won by more than 8 million votes, compared to President Bush’s victory margin of 3 million votes in 2004.

Some analysts have suggested that the election of Barak Obama is an indicator that race is less of a factor in American politics. However, the election results fail to support this contention. Instead, changing racial demographics provide people of color with more electoral influence than in the past as their numbers continue to increase in American society.

In 2008, people of color, including white Hispanics, voted for the candidate of color, while non-Hispanic Whites voted for the White candidate. Obama received roughly 66% of the Asian vote, 65% of the Latino vote, and 95% of the Black vote. When whites become a numerical minority in the United States, it is likely, based on current trends, that support for the death penalty will diminish since people of color are less supportive of the practice.

A second factor in the possible termination of the death penalty is the election of Barak Obama. He is likely to nominate more progressive justices to the Supreme Court, thereby giving the anti-death penalty contingent on the bench a majority in the event a current conservative justice is to be replaced. Although President-elect Obama has called for an expansion of the death penalty to include child rapists, it is likely that he will appoint a progressive justice who may well disagree with him on the death penalty.

There is also the possibility that there will be pressure on President-elect Obama from within his Party to modify his position on the death penalty. A Supreme Court reversal of the recent 5-4 decision on the death penalty in less than 15 years is therefore another possible, but not certain, scenario for the elimination of the death penalty.