Death Penalty Bias Found
Study Indicates Racial Disparities
A convicted murderer is far more likely to be sentenced to death in California if the victim is white and if the crime occurs in a predominantly white, rural county, according to a study soon to be published in the Santa Clara University law review.In an examination of more than 260 of the state's death penalty cases and data on California murders during the 1990s, two researchers concluded the state is plagued by racial and geographical disparities that have been identified in other capital punishment states.
Study findings
The study, distributed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, found that defendants who murder whites are four times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who kill Latinos, and three times more likely to face execution than those who murder African-Americans. There are more black and Latino murder victims than white murder victims.
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Posted by beth at 10:36 AM
