More than half the countries in the world have now
abolished the death penalty in law or practice, yet
thirty-eight states and the federal government authorize
capital punishment-despite numerous studies that have
shown the death penalty to be discriminatory in its
application. In each of those jurisdictions it is the
prosecutor who makes the critical decision of whether or
not to seek death. That decision is guided somewhat by
statutory aggravating and mitigating factors, but many
of these factors, such as the heinousness of the crime,
are subjective.
Impact:
Capital
punishment provides one of the most glaring examples of
racial disparity in the criminal justice system. Studies
show that whether or not a defendant who is eligible for
capital punishment lives or dies depends largely on the
race of the defendant or his victim. Poor Americans are
also at much greater risk of receiving the death penalty
than are their wealthier counterparts.
Individuals who are charged with
killing white victims are significantly more likely to
receive the death penalty than individuals who are
charged with killing non-white victims. There is also
evidence that the victim's race has a particularly
strong effect on the prosecutor's decision to seek death
and on whether or not the prosecutor decides to allow
the defendant to plead guilty to lesser charges.
- One groundbreaking study conducted in Georgia by
Professor David Baldus found that defendants charged
with killing white victims were 4.3 times more likely
to receive the death penalty than defendants charged
with killing black victims.
When the victim's
race and the race of the defendant are both taken into
consideration, the situation become even more troubling.
- The Georgia study also found that blacks who
killed whites were sentenced to death 22 times more
frequently than blacks who killed blacks and seven
times more often than whites who killed blacks.
- Though prosecutors sought the death penalty in 70%
of the cases involving black defendants and white
victims, they did the same in only 19% of cases
involving white defendants and black victims, and only
15% of the cases involving black defendants and black
victims.
- During this period, only 9.2% percent of Georgia
homicides involved black defendants and white
victims--while 60.7% involved black victims.
In 1988, Congress authorized the death penalty
for people who committed murders and were involved in
certain drug trafficking activities.
- From 1998 through 1994, 75% of those convicted
under that law, 21 U.S.C. Section 48, were white, yet
89% of those who faced the death penalty under that
law were black or Latino.
- Over the past 5 years, 75% of the defendants in
cases in which federal prosecutors sought the death
penalty were people of color. In more than half of
those cases, defendants have been African American,
despite the fact that African Americans constitute a
mere 12% of the population.
- Since 1988, 60% of white defendants in cases
prosecuted under the federal death penalty statute
have avoided the death penalty by plea bargaining;
only 41% of black defendants were able to do the same.
The 1994 Crime Act expanded the list of
offenses for which a defendant would be eligible for the
federal death penalty. The (
60 new offenses included some crimes not
resulting in death and the running of large-scale drug
enterprises.
Background:
In
1972, the Supreme Court ruled in Furman vs.
Georgia that the death penalty was unconstitutional,
arguing that it was inconsistent with the 8th
Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
In 1976, after many states amended their death penalty
statutes to meet the Supreme Court's concerns, the Court
held in Gregg vs. Georgia that death penalty
statutes could be constitutional under certain
circumstances. One year later in Coker vs.
Georgia, the Supreme Court found that it was
unconstitutional to execute a person for committing
rape. In McCleskey vs. Kemp, decided in1987, the
Supreme Court held that statistical evidence that the
Georgia death penalty statute had a disparate impact on
blacks who are convicted of killing whites was not
enough to invalidate a particular individual's
conviction.
In March of 2000, Governor Ryan of Illinois ordered a
moratorium on the death penalty in his state after 13
death row inmates were found to have been wrongfully
convicted under the state's system. New scientific
evidence-generally DNA evidence-proved that these
inmates were not guilty of the crimes for which they
were facing death.
A Commission organized by Ryan released its final
report on April 15, 2002. It includes 85 recommendations
for reform in the areas of investigations, eligibility
for the death penalty, prosecutorial discretion, and
trial practice. Specifically, the report recommends
that:
- Officials tape all interrogations of capital
suspects
- States reduce the number of crimes for which one
can be eligible for death
- A trial judge concur whenever a sentencing jury
recommends the death penalty
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