7.6.3: Bias in the Application of the Death Penalty
- Page ID
- 64117
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Capital punishment in the United States has long been criticized as historical data shows that it has been disproportionately applied to African American defendants. This led the Supreme Court to declare that capital punishment, as it was applied at the time, to be unconstitutional in 1972. After this ruling, many states changed their capital punishment statutes, and many of these statutes are still applied today. A short time after the state of Florida reenacted its program of capital punishment, a study of 600 homicide indictments in 20 counties in Florida from 1976 and 1977 were examined to determine if capital punishment was still being applied unevenly according to race (Radelet 1981).
Table 7.6 shows the number of individuals who were indicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death according to their race and the race of the victim. For illustrative purposes, we have combined the data from primary homicides, which involve family and friends, and non-primary homicides, which typically involve strangers.
Table 7.6 Data showing the number of individuals indicted for first degree murder who were sentenced to capital punishment based on the race of the defendant and the victim. (Radelet 1981).
|
Capital Punishment |
||
|
Yes |
No |
|
| White Victim | ||
|
African American Defendant |
11 |
48 |
|
White Defendant |
22 |
175 |
|
African American Victim |
||
|
African American Defendant |
6 |
101 |
|
White Defendant |
0 |
8 |
From the table we see that the odds ratio for an African American defendant being sentenced to capital punishment compared to a white defendant, when the victim is white, is
\[\text{odds ratio}=\frac{11\times 175}{22\times 48}=\frac{1925}{1056}\approx1.82. \nonumber \]
This indicates the odds that a black defendant is sentenced to capital punishment is 1.8 times the odds of a white defendant being sentenced to capital punishment. Similarly, the odds ratio for an African American defendant being sentenced to capital punishment compared to a white defendant, when the victim is African American, is
\[\text{odds ratio}=\frac{6\times 8}{0\times 101}. \]
In this case the odds ratio cannot be computed because the denominator of this fraction is 0. It is very difficult to draw any conclusions in this case. Looking closely at the data we see that a little less than 6% of the African American defendants were sentenced to capital punishment where there are 107 black defendants in all. Note that there are only 8 white defendants. If the sentencing rate were the same, then we would probably not observe any white defendants being sentenced to capital punishment because 6% of 8 is approximately 0.5. Therefore, even if the rates of capital punishment were the same, we might observe the data that is observed here. The relative lack of data means that we cannot make any conclusions in for the case of African American victims.