Sociology of Race and Ethic Relations

Additional Materials

Study: Victim's Race Influences Death Sentences

By Stephen Manning

Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, January 7, 2003; 1:01 PM

Black offenders who kill white victims are more likely to receive the death penalty in Maryland, according to a University of Maryland study released Tuesday.

The report also concluded geography plays a major role in whether a defendant faces a death sentence, as the decisions by state's attorneys to pursue capital punishment varies widely from county to county.

Outgoing Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening commissioned the report in 2000 in response to concerns that the state's death penalty is unfairly meted out according to race and jurisdiction. Glendening imposed a moratorium on executions last summer while the study was being completed, but Republican Gov.-elect Robert Ehrlich has promised to lift the ban when he takes office Jan. 15.

Criminologist Ray Paternoster found that the race of the defendant was not significant in death penalty-eligible cases, but wrote that the race of the victim proved a major factor in determining whether prosecutors sought the death penalty.

Furthermore, the race of the victim and offender taken together showed significant differences. Prosecutors filed death notices, indicating their intent to seek the death penalty, in almost half of the homicides where a black defendant killed a white victim, but only in about a quarter of all other homicides.

"Black offenders who kill white victims are at greater risk of death sentences than others, primarily because they are substantially more likely to be charged by the state's attorney with a capital offense," the report said.

Paternoster studied 6,000 murder cases between 1978, when the state reinstated a death penalty statute, and the present. Paternoster sifted through police reports, case files, autopsy reports and other records. Researchers evaluated 250 factors, such as the racial characteristics of the victim and how the crimes were committed.

The study also concluded that early decisions made by prosecutors, specifically whether a case is eligible for the death penalty and decisions not to drop the pursuit of a death sentence, were major factors in determining who faced possible execution.

Those decisions varied dramatically between jurisdictions. Prosecutors in Baltimore County, where State's Attorney Sandra O'Connor pursues all death-eligible cases to avoid any allegations of bias, were much more likely to file death notices than other counties even though the county had considerably fewer death-eligible cases than jurisdictions such as the city of Baltimore.

"The between-county differences that occur at the beginning of the process have effects that propagate the end of the process," the report concludes.

Maryland's death penalty could be a major issue in the General Assembly session that starts Wednesday.

Prosecutors want to strengthen the statute, saying the law is relatively weak compared to other states and was a reason Maryland lost the right to first prosecute Washington-area sniper suspects John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft picked Virginia, citing its stronger death penalty.

Several black lawmakers have proposed legislation to extend the moratorium while the General Assembly reviews the Paternoster study.

Ehrlich would not comment Tuesday morning on the study, saying he had not had a chance to review it. But he repeated his pledge to end the moratorium when he takes office, saying he will review death sentences on a case-by-case basis.

Maryland has 12 people on death row; eight are black and four are white.

CHAPTER 8 AFRICAN AMERICANS TODAY

The chapter opens with consideration of the role of education in the position and experience of African Americans, with a focus on policies such as segregation, educational quality, and higher education. The issues of economic inequality, employment discrimination, and affirmative action are considered. The social institution of family and challenges to its stability is examined, with a focus on strengths of the family over time. Upward mobility for African Americans is discussed, including the increase in Black-owned businesses and the Black middle class. Housing and residential segregation are introduced. Racial inequality in the criminal justice system, or differential justice, in terms of those who work in the system and those who are arrested and processed, is discussed. The effects of race on life chances are considered with health status and health care and politics and political participation.

Daily newspapers and weekly newsmagazines can be used to update the data on the education, employment conditions, family life, housing, criminal justice, health care, and politics of African Americans.

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Chapter 8

The situation of African Americans has changed throughout the history of the United States. However, many problems persist. In this chapter, Schaefer focuses on education, the economy, family life, housing, crime and the judicial system, health care and politics, revealing challenges unique to African Americans.

Learning Objectives

1. To understand the impact of segregation on African American education.

2. To become familiar with the effects of low-income, prejudice, and discrimination on life for contemporary African Americans.

3. To learn about the current economic situation of African Americans.

4. To explore the strengths, weaknesses, and unique challenges of African American families.

5. To understand the causes and effects of residential segregation.

6. To become familiar with problems facing the African American community in areas such as criminal justice (including the implementation of the death penalty), health care, and politics.