Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T16:32:38.199Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Prosecutorial Discretion in Requesting the Death Penalty: A Case of Victim-Based Racial Discrimination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Data from 300 homicides involving an aggravating felony were examined to determine what factors influence the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty. It was found that the race of the victim was significantly related to the decision to seek the death penalty even when several legally relevant factors were taken into account. The data also revealed that black killers of whites were more likely and black killers of blacks less likely to have the death penalty requested. A breakdown of homicides into those involving a single aggravating felony and those involving multiple felonies revealed that racial effects were stronger in the former category. There was some evidence that this difference in the effects of race reflected a different threshold of tolerance for white and black murders. Black victim homicides resulted in a death request only when they crossed a threshold of aggravation that was higher than that found for white deaths.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

This study would not have been possible were it not for the assistance and untiring support of numerous friends and co-workers. The South Carolina research team of Soozie Caulfield, June Skinner, Tim Walker, and Diana Gamble was instrumental in transcribing, coding, and editing the data. For these efforts they were paid nothing but my respect and awe for their dedication and energy. I would also like to thank countless attorneys in the state of South Carolina for answering my unending queries about cases they assumed were gone and forgotten, especially David Bruck of the South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense and Vance Cowden and Lewis Burke of the University of South Carolina School of Law. The latter three were responsible for securing a good part of the data analyzed here, and without their efforts the reported findings would not have come to light. Finally, I would like to thank LeeAnn Iovanni of the Maryland research team, Richard Lempert and two anonymous reviewers of the Law & Society Review for their careful reading of and comments on the paper. What is of value in it reflects in part their efforts.

References

References

ARKIN, Steven D. (1980) “Discrimination and Arbitrariness in Capital Punishment: An Analysis of Post-Furman Murder Cases in Dade County, Florida 1973-1976,” 33 Stanford Law Review 75.Google Scholar
BALDUS, David C., Charles, PULASKI and George, WOODWORTH (1983) “Comparative Review of Death Sentences: An Empirical Study of the Georgia Experience,” 74 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 661.Google Scholar
BOWERS, William J. and Glenn L., PIERCE (1980) “Arbitrariness and Discrimination under Post-Furman Capital Statutes,” 26 Crime & Delinquency 563.Google Scholar
BYNUM, Tim S. (1982) “Release on Recognizance,” 20 Criminology 67.Google Scholar
CHIRICOS, Theodore G. and Gordon P., WALDO (1975) “Socioeconomic Status and Criminal Sentencing: An Empirical Assessment of a Conflict Proposition,” 40 American Sociological Review 753.Google Scholar
DAVIS, Peggy C. (1978) “Texas Capital Sentencing Procedures: The Role of the Jury and the Restraining Hand of the Expert,” 69 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 300.Google Scholar
DIX, George E. (1979) “Appellate Review of the Decision to Impose Death,” 68 Georgetown Law Journal 97.Google Scholar
FINNEY, D. J. (1971) Probit Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
FRAZIER, Charles E. and E. Wilbur, BOCK (1982) “Effects of Court Officials on Sentence Severity,” 20 Criminology 257.Google Scholar
GARFINKEL, Harold (1949) “Research Note on Inter- and Intra-Racial Homicides,” 27 Social Forces 369.Google Scholar
HAGAN, John, NAGEL (BERNSTEIN), Ilene H. and Celesta, ALBONETTI (1980) “The Differential Sentencing of White-Collar Offenders in Ten Federal District Courts,” 45 American Sociological Review 802.Google Scholar
HANEY, Craig (1980) “Juries and the Death Penalty: Readdressing the Witherspoon Question,” 26 Crime & Delinquency 512.Google Scholar
HANUSHEK, Eric A. and John E., JACKSON (1977) Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
JACOBY, Joseph E. and Raymond, PATERNOSTER (1982) “Sentencing Disparity and Jury Packing: Further Challenges to the Death Penalty,” 73 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 379.Google Scholar
LaFREE, Gary D. (1980) “The Effect of Sexual Stratification by Race on Official Reactions to Rape,” 45 American Sociological Review 842.Google Scholar
McKELVEY, Richard D. and William, ZAVOINA (1975) “A Statistical Model for the Analysis of Ordinal Level Dependent Variables,” 4 Journal of Mathematical Sociology 103.Google Scholar
MYERS, Martha A. (1979) “Offended Parties and Official Reactions: Victims and the Sentencing of Criminal Defendants,” 20 Sociological Quarterly 529.Google Scholar
PATERNOSTER, Raymond (1983) “Race of Victim and Location of Crime: The Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in South Carolina,” 74 Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 754.Google Scholar
RADELET, Michael L. (1981) “Racial Characteristics and the Imposition of the Death Penalty,” 46 American Sociological Review 918.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (1980).Google Scholar
Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976).Google Scholar
Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978).Google Scholar
Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976).Google Scholar
Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325 (1976).Google Scholar
Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976).Google Scholar

Statutes Cited

S.C. Code Ann., §§ 16-3-20, 16-3-25 (Supp. 1983).Google Scholar