NCJ Number
150403
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: special issue (June 1994) Pages: 319-338
Date Published
1994
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study describes the process of decisionmaking in capital cases in two Georgia judicial circuits under the State's post-Furman death penalty statute. The focus of the analysis is on racial disparities in the administration of capital punishment.
Abstract
The data cover the period from March 28, 1973 through July 1990. During the reporting period, approximately 62 percent of defendants in all capital cases in these circuits were black. Even though a majority of murder victims in the two judicial circuits were black, 67 percent of the victims of capital murder were white. Seventy-three percent of jurors in capital cases studied here were white; this disparity in jury representation increased when cases were analyzed separately by race. All the Superior Court judges in these two circuits were white; there was only one black judge in either court during the study period. Finally, all elected district attorneys in Georgia were white. The three factors used by prosecutors when seeking the death penalty -- horrible crime, horrible defendant, and abundance of evidence -- were all shown to be highly susceptible to racial bias. Despite this evidence, the author concludes that, given the parameters set by the U.S. Supreme Court, it is unlikely that racial discrimination in capital cases can ever be proved legally. 3 tables, 22 notes, and 73 references