New study finds disturbing trend on race and death penalty

Penn Against the Death Penalty May 15, 2006

Activists note growing body of evidence against capital punishment in Pennsylvania

A new study has indicated a disturbing link between African-American defendants who are “stereotypically black” and the death penalty in Philadelphia. The study, which was published in the May edition of Psychological Science, found that blacks accused of killing white victims and who had physical features that are stereotypical for African-Americans, like dark skin, broad nose, or thick lips, were more likely to be sentenced to death than black defendants accused of killing whites who did not have these features.

“Supporters of capital punishment have long held the ideal that execution is reserved for the worst of the worst,” said Andy Hoover, co-chair of Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty. “The reality is that we execute the poorest defendants. Now it seems that death sentences are dispensed not by the nature of the crime but literally by the color of a person’s skin.”

Using the database from the Baldus-Woodworth study on race and the death penalty in Philadelphia in 1998, researchers from Stanford, UCLA, Yale, and Cornell Law School obtained photos of capital defendants and then asked undergraduate students at Stanford to rate the stereotypical appearance of each defendant. The students did not know the purpose of the study. Among those in the upper half of the stereotypical scale, 57.5% received death sentences. Only 24.4% of those defendants in the lower half of the scale were condemned to die.

“This study lends further support to our contention that the death penalty is imposed disproportionately on people of color,” said the Reverend Sandra Strauss, director of public advocacy for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. “The Pennsylvania Council of Churches endorses a vision of criminal justice that is based on equal justice for all people. “Clearly, equal justice does not exist in Pennsylvania when 70% of Pennsylvania’s death row inmates are people of color.” Pennsylvania’s death row has the second-highest minority rate in the country. As of May 1, 155 of the 225 death row inmates in the state were people of color, a percentage of 69.9%.

The statistics on race and death sentencing in Philadelphia are even starker. Of the 118 death row inmates convicted of murder in the city, 108 are minorities, which is a minority-rate of 91.5%. The Baldus-Woodworth study in 1998 found that black defendants in Philadelphia were four times more likely to receive the death penalty than non-blacks charged with similar crimes.

Meanwhile, the race of the victim plays an equally powerful role. Nationwide, whites are victims of murder about 50% of the time but are the victims in 80% of death penalty cases. Finally, race impacts jury selection. For years, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office trained its prosecutors in striking minorities from jury pools, despite a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court declaring such activity unconstitutional. This misconduct led to a new trial for long-time death row inmate Harold Wilson, who was subsequently acquitted at re-trial in November. Wilson, an African-American man from Philadelphia, spent 16 years on Pennsylvania’s death row.

“The system is broken,” Hoover said. “The body of evidence continues to build, and it clearly indicates that the death penalty is simply bad policy. Innocent people are sentenced to death. It’s expensive. It’s racist, and it discriminates against the poor. “We believe that it cannot be fixed but are willing to accept a temporary stop to executions with a comprehensive study of the entire system in Pennsylvania.” Wilson is the seventh death row exoneration in Pennsylvania since 1986 and the fifth in six years. Four of the seven exonerations were cases from Philadelphia. With ten people on death row, no executions, and no exonerations, New Jersey passed a moratorium on executions accompanied by a comprehensive study in January. A recent report stated that New Jersey has spent $250 million dollars on the death penalty since it reinstated capital punishment.

In 2003, a report by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System recommended a temporary suspension of executions due to concerns of bias against minorities and the poor. In its nine year history, Pennsylvania Abolitionists has been a leader in the debate on capital punishment. With thousands of supporters throughout the Commonwealth, the organization has raised awareness on the problems with the death penalty through public education and public actions. PA Abolitionists has five chapters and affiliates in the state and works closely with like-minded organizations on this important human rights issue.

Source: Pennsylvanians Against the Death Penalty