NCJ Number
172508
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1997) Pages: 65-76
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examines racial and ethnic discrimination in death sentencing in Arizona.
Abstract
Since revival of capital punishment in the United States, numerous studies have found clear patterns of racial discrimination in death sentences in at least a dozen States, including several non-southern States. Research has consistently shown that white-victim homicides, especially cases in which minorities are accused of killing whites, are much more likely to result in death sentences than other cases, and that cases in which minorities are accused of killing other minorities are much less likely to result in death sentences than other cases. Virtually all of these studies have focused on southern or midwestern States and on discrimination against African-American defendants. This study examined racial and ethnic discrimination in death sentencing in Arizona, a western State with a multiethnic population. Similar patterns of death sentencing occurred in Arizona and involved discrimination against both Hispanic and African-American defendants. Notes, tables, references