Race and the Death Penalty

Posted: October 07, 2002

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DPIC Reports:

The Death Penalty in Black & White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides

Chattahoochee Judicial District - The Buckle of the Death Belt: The Death Penalty in Microcosm

Racial Disparities in Federal Death Penalty Prosecutions 1988-1994

Additional Resources:

DPIC Summary of North Carolina v. Robinson, the first ruling issued under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act (April 22, 2012)

Amnesty Report Finds Racial Injustice in Death Penalty - According to a new report issued by Amnesty International, race continues to play a strong role in U.S. death penalty cases. In "US: Death by Discrimination - The Continuing Role of Race in Capital Cases," (April 23, 2003) Amnesty states that:

Even though blacks and whites are murder victims in nearly equal numbers of crimes, 80% of people executed since the death penalty was reinstated have been executed for murders involving white victims.

More than 20% of black defendants who have been executed were convicted by all-white juries.

The report also examines case law and international policies related to race and the death penalty.

Maryland Study Finds that Race and Geography Play Key Roles in Death Penalty - According to the findings of a Governor-commissioned death penalty study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland, the state's death penalty system is tainted with racial bias, and geography plays a significant role in who faces a capital conviction. The study, one of the nation's most comprehensive official reviews on race and the death penalty, concluded that defendants are much more likely to be sentenced to death if they have killed a white person. See DPIC's Press Release. For more information about the study, see the Executive Summary and Complete Study (Released on January 7, 2003).

Indiana Death Penalty Commission Prepares to Release Study - The Indiana Criminal Law Study Commission met recently to review the final draft of a year-long study on the state's death penalty. The draft report indicates that race of the victim plays a role in death penalty sentencing. The report included a cost analysis that indicates it costs the state 35-37% more to have the death penalty than it would if life without parole were the most severe punishment available. Governor Frank O'Bannon asked the Commission to review the state's death penalty system after innocent inmates were discovered and freed from death rows in other states. The final report is due to be released in December. (Indianapolis Star, 11/9/01)

New Jersey Supreme Court Report Finds Disturbing Evidence Regarding Race and the Death Penalty - A report released by the New Jersey Supreme Court found that the state's death penalty law is more likely to proceed against defendants who kill white victims. "There is unsettling statistical evidence indicating that cases involving killers of white victims are more likely to progress to a penalty phase than cases involving killers of African-American victims," the report states. Appellate Division Judge David S. Baime, who conducted the study, said that the findings that more capital cases are considered in white, suburban neighborhoods should be examined by the attorney general's office. (Asbury Park Press, 8/13/01)

"Race and the Death Penalty in North Carolina An Empirical Analysis: 1993-1997" This study, the most comprehensive ever conducted on the death penalty in North Carolina, was released by researchers from the University of North Carolina. The study, based on data collected from court records of 502 murder cases from 1993 to 1997, found that race plays a significant role in who gets the death penalty. Prof. Jack Boger and Dr. Isaac Unah of the University of North Carolina found that defendants whose victims are white are 3.5 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those with non-white victims. "The odds are supposed to be zero that race plays a role," said Dr. Unah. "No matter how the data was analyzed, the race of the victim always emerged as an important factor in who received the death penalty." The study's findings will be presented to the North Carolina General Assembly which is currently considering moratorium bills in both the House and Senate. (Associated Press, 4/16/01 and Common Sense Foundation Press Release, 4/16/01) Read DPIC's Press Advisory.

"Unequal, Unfair, and Irreversible: The Death Penalty in Virginia" - This new report, published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, examines four key aspects of the administration of capital punishment in Virginia: race, prosecutorial discretion in the charging of capital crimes, quality of legal representation for the accused, and appellate review of trials resulting in the death penalty. The report's principal findings are:

race is a controlling factor in the way the death penalty is administered in Virginia

trial attorneys appointed to represent those on Virginia's death row are six times more likely to be the subject of bar disciplinary proceedings than are other lawyers

the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has granted relief in only one of 131 capital cases between 1978-1997.

The report is available from the ACLU of Virginia by calling (804) 644-8080.

The Federal Death Penalty System: A Statistical Survey (1988-2000) A review of the federal death penalty by the Justice Department, released on September 12, 2000, found numerous racial and geographic disparities. The report revealed that 80% of the cases submitted by federal prosecutors for death penalty review in the past five years have involved racial minorities as defendants. In more than half of those cases, the defendant was African-American. Attorney General Janet Reno said she was "sorely troubled" by the results of the report and has ordered United States attorneys to help explain the racial and ethnic disparities. The report also found that 40% of the 682 cases sent to the Justice Department for approval to seek the death penalty were filed by only five jurisdictions. "I can't help but be both personally and professionally disturbed by the numbers that we discuss today," said Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder. "[N]o one reading this report can help but be disturbed, troubled, by this disparity." Reno is expected to announce more studies of the administration of the federal death penalty. (New York Times, 9/12-13/00) See also, DPIC's summary of the report findings

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From DPIC

RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY

Listen to DPIC's New Podcast on Race

Racial bias has always been a significant issue in death penalty debates. There have been many careful statistical studies indicating that race plays a significant role in determining who lives and who dies. For example, a study released in 2003 by the University of Maryland concluded that race, along with geography, is an important factor in death penalty decisions in that state. Prosecutors are more likely to seek the death penalty when the race of the victim is white and less likely when the race of the victim is African-American.

Almost 80% of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though in society as a whole African-Americans account for about half of murder victims.

North Carolina Racial Justice Act

In August 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act, becoming the second state to allow statistical evidence to show racial bias in the death penalty. In an individual case, the law allows a judge to overturn the death sentence or prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty if bias is shown. Governor Beverly Purdue, who signed the act into law, stated "I have always been a supporter of death penalty, but I have always believed it must be carried out fairly. The Racial Justice Act ensures that when North Carolina hands down our state’s harshest punishment to our most heinous criminals – the decision is based on the facts and the law, not racial prejudice.”

View a video describing how race played a significant role in the case of one man who was recently executed in Georgia.

DPIC's PODCAST on Race

For more information, see DPIC's Page on Race. For a downloadable podcast about race, click here.