NCJ Number
125887
Journal
South Carolina Law Review Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1988) Pages: 245-414
Date Published
1988
Length
170 pages
Annotation
This empirical review of the administration of South Carolina's procedurally reformed capital punishment statute, enacted in 1977, concludes that prosecutors have shown a pattern of racial bias in selecting cases for the death penalty.
Abstract
After examining previous research on the administration of State capital punishment statutes before and after the U.S. Supreme Court's Furman decision, this study examines 302 felony homicide cases processed from enactment of the new statute on June 8, 1977, until December 31, 1981. The study addresses the extent to which the race of the victim and offender affected the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty and the jury's decision to impose it. The analysis also addresses arbitrary capital sentencing by conducting an empirical proportionality review. Cases resulting in a death sentence are juxtaposed with comparable cases resulting in other types of punishment to determine if the death penalty is administered consistently and rationally. Between 1977 and 1981, prosecutors sought the death penalty in only one in three death-eligible cases. The prosecutor was twice as likely to seek the death penalty if the victim was white than if the victim was black. Given that the South Carolina Supreme Court has yet to vacate a death sentence on the grounds that it was influenced by prejudice or that it was comparatively excessive, the discriminatory pattern in the administration of the death penalty in South Carolina is not likely to change. 24 tables and 368 footnotes