Does Race Influence Death Penalty Decisions in CA?

By TChris, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 04:02:59 PM EST
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The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice is trying to understand why California's prosecutors seek the death penalty in some cases but not in others. More particularly, the Commission wants to know if the race of the victim or of the defendant influences that decision.

Since capital punishment was reinstated in California in 1977, death sentences against black defendants, but not Latinos, have been disproportionately enormous by almost every measure: population, homicide rates, victim data and the sentencing patterns of other states. California's 5-to-1 ratio of blacks on death row to blacks in the state population, measured in percentages, is much higher than the ratios in Texas, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. The national average is 3 to 1. ...

Twenty-four percent of the people arrested for homicide are black, but blacks make up 36% of the current death row population. Latinos are 46% of homicide arrestees but 20% of death row inmates.... In death sentences against all ethnic groups, 59% have involved a white victim. Yet whites are only about 22% of homicide victims.

Prosecutors have not been forthcoming in answering the Commission's questions. [more ...]

The commission was unable to find out what makes the difference partly because most county district attorneys refused to cooperate with Pepperdine University law school researchers employed to construct and conduct a survey. District attorneys in each county have their own standards and procedures for evaluating murder cases. But even those internal rules are kept secret in most counties.

If racism explains the greater willingness to pursue the death penalty when the victim is white, the blame may be shared by the police.

[B]ias may enter a case when police investigators work harder to collect evidence in the deaths of white victims.

It's difficult to test that theory, however, if prosecutors won't talk about why they seek death in some cases but not in others. Since the Commission can't induce prosecutors to cooperate voluntarily with its study, it is seeking legislation to compel prosecutors to explain their decisions.

[The Commission] recently called for legislation requiring prosecutors to collect and report all information on their decisions whether to seek the death penalty. The commission also wants courts and defense lawyers, as well as prosecutors, to collect and report information showing whether race affects the outcome of murder prosecutions.

The usual suspects oppose this perfectly reasonable proposal.

[T]he recommendation already is being opposed by police, prosecutors and victims' representatives, who say there's been no evidence of abuse by prosecutors in three decades of deciding which murders warrant the death penalty. The critics also don't want prosecutors to adopt formal, written, public policies on when they'll seek the death penalty, as the commission has recommended.

The statistical data may or may not constitute "evidence of abuse," but the numbers raise serious questions that shouldn't be so easily dismissed. And asking prosecutors to explain their decisions and to adopt uniform policies is simply a way of seeking accountability in a decision-making process that relies on unaccountable discretion. Is that too much to ask when the decisions involve life and death?

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Does Race Influence Death Penalty Decisions in CA? | 10 comments (10 topical)

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I've always wondered about one statistic (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by dianem on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 07:47:17 PM EST

The fact that crimes against white people are more likely to result in a death penalty conviction is not necessarily indicative of bias. Black people in our society are disproportionately poor, and I suspect that this explains a lot of the death penalty discrepancies, although I'm betting that even if the numbers are adjusted for social class the numbers still indicate bias against black people - it's intuitive. Because of class issues, black on white is more likely to be murder in the commission of a another crime, which is more likely to result in the death penalty.

I want to emphasize, though, that I do not intend to claim that there is no bias. I suspect that there is. But the numbers don't necessarily tell the entire story - correlation is not the same as causation. The simple fact that there are more black people on death row does not prove that their being black is the reason they were convicted and sentenced to death.

: Stranger murder (none / 0) (#10)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 08:22:22 AM EST

If stranger murder is more likely to get the death penalty, then these stats are not suprising.
A problem with these stats is that they lump all kinds of homicide together. It should come as no suprise that drunk driving manslaughter convictions do not end up on death row.

I think California is complicated. (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by Grace on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 08:51:18 PM EST

From the article:

California's 5-to-1 ratio of blacks on death row to blacks in the state population, measured in percentages, is much higher than the ratios in Texas, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. The national average is 3 to 1.

Don't forget that the state has a long history of black gangs (Bloods, Crips, etc.). That could help explain why there are more blacks in prison compared to other states that haven't had a gang presence for decades.

Not getting a good lawyer might also be part of the problem. I mean, look at OJ Simpson. He had good lawyers.

I believe they should also study (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by Grace on Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 12:49:07 AM EST

the types of crimes committed by blacks, hispanics, whites and Asians too. They also would need to somehow factor in shifts in the population over the last 30 years because the population has shifted considerably demographically.

Another thing that might be important: Certain demographics who commit crimes that could be "death penalty" quality are more likely to take their own lives committing the crime instead of going through the legal process. How does that affect the numbers? (I honestly can't remember the last time I heard of a black "murder-suicide" while they are fairly common in the white and Asian communities.)

The two cases in the opening of the newspaper article are of interest to me and I wonder why the reporter didn't ask further questions? In the one case, since the person only got a year, I have to assume it was a manslaughter conviction? A year in prison is nothing for a murder. Comparing that to the death penalty tells me there is more to this story than the reporter is telling us.

I'm not a member of the legal community or the law enforcement community. I do find statistics (particularly those involving percentages) interesting because percentages can distort the overall picture.

(P.S. The LA Times has a Homicide Blog and for about a year, they tried to follow every murder in LA. It was amazing to me that most of those murdered were either black or Hispanic. Hardly anyone was white. Most of the murders committed were between people of the same race -- I thought that was interesting too. They did a year-end wrap-up and posted what they found: Most of the murders that were blacks killing Latinos or the other way around were random, not planned and not race related. They posted the race of everyone killed. It's a lot of information to wade through but the blog is a good read.)

well yeah, there is, potentially. (none / 0) (#1)
by cpinva on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 05:10:17 PM EST

.....there's been no evidence of abuse by prosecutors in three decades of deciding which murders warrant the death penalty.

certainly, the statistical evidence would, on the surface at least, suggest it. clearly, statistics can't take into account all tangibles/intangibles, relative to this issue. as well, they're subject to manipulation (lies, damn lies, etc.), but they provide a valid starting point.

perhaps, only the most egregious, heinous acts, crimes that shock humanity (is that still possible?) are targeted for the death penalty, and blacks commit a disproportionate share of those. it's possible. however, absent the underlying policies, and a further, case-by-case review, we'll never know.

it's just not sufficient, for public officials, charged with life and death decision making, to say "trust me", it's just not.

Go to death rows. (none / 0) (#2)
by wurman on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 05:50:11 PM EST

The Pepperdine students doing the research could discover a great deal of useful information by interviewing the condemned.

Then, with that information as background, it would be illuminating to discuss the situations with the defense attorney(s).

My experience, over the years, has been that those on the receiving end of blatant discrimination can clearly identify it, point out the exact sources of it, & accurately describe the implementation of the process(es).

My experience is that criminal (none / 0) (#3)
by oculus on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 07:43:49 PM EST

defendants are not entirely reliable witnesses.


: Could be . . . I don't know. (none / 0) (#5)
by wurman on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 08:17:12 PM EST

If the questions are about the process, rather than the result, the answers may be useful.
My experience is that people who have experienced discrimination are very astute about the matter.
And the condemned are no longer defendants.

: As someone who does a fair bit of failure anylsis (none / 0) (#9)
by Rojas on Mon Jul 28, 2008 at 03:21:44 AM EST

I find that is true of most people.

the real injustice (none / 0) (#7)
by diogenes on Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 10:50:26 PM EST

Maybe this proves that blacks are being justly sentenced but that white murderers are being treated too leniently and should be sentenced to death more often, as should murderers of blacks.