Race, Judicial Discretion, and the Death Penalty

@article{citeulike:1981615, abstract = {The record of executions in the United States has long shown that black defendants are disproportionately subjected to this sanction. But racial differentials in the use of the death penalty may not alone reveal the existence of racial discrimination. The Supreme Court in the Furman decision ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional because it is a "cruel and unusual" punishment. Some allusions to racial discrimination appeared in the opinions, but more evidence seems called for. Some earlier studies of racial differentials in sentencing are reviewed, followed by a summary of the research procedure and conclusions from an elaborate study of sentencing for rape in states where that offense has been a capital crime. Strong statistically significant differences in the proportions of blacks sentenced to death, compared to whites, when a variety of nonracial aggravating circumstances are considered, permit the conclusion that the sentencing differentials are the product of racial discrimination. 10.1177/000271627340700110}, author = {Wolfgang, Marvin E. and Riedel, Marc }, citeulike-article-id = {1981615}, doi = {10.1177/000271627340700110}, journal = {The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science}, month = {May}, number = {1}, pages = {119--133}, posted-at = {2008-03-19 14:41:14}, priority = {2}, title = {Race, Judicial Discretion, and the Death Penalty}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000271627340700110}, volume = {407}, year = {1973} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1981615 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1981615 TI - Race, Judicial Discretion, and the Death Penalty JF - The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science VL - 407 IS - 1 SP - 119 EP - 133 N2 - The record of executions in the United States has long shown that black defendants are disproportionately subjected to this sanction. But racial differentials in the use of the death penalty may not alone reveal the existence of racial discrimination. The Supreme Court in the Furman decision ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional because it is a "cruel and unusual" punishment. Some allusions to racial discrimination appeared in the opinions, but more evidence seems called for. Some earlier studies of racial differentials in sentencing are reviewed, followed by a summary of the research procedure and conclusions from an elaborate study of sentencing for rape in states where that offense has been a capital crime. Strong statistically significant differences in the proportions of blacks sentenced to death, compared to whites, when a variety of nonracial aggravating circumstances are considered, permit the conclusion that the sentencing differentials are the product of racial discrimination. 10.1177/000271627340700110 AU - Wolfgang, Marvin AU - Riedel, Marc PY - 1973/05/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000271627340700110 ER -