NCJ Number
197608
Journal
The Justice System Journal Volume: 23 Issue: 2 Dated: 2002 Pages: 235-247
Editor(s)
Susette Talarico
Date Published
2002
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study explored the issue of potential bias in capital juries and attempted to identify the correlates of juror attitudes about the death penalty in two Louisiana parishes.
Abstract
Recent polls have indicated that more Americans favor the death sentence over life imprisonment. This also illustrates a virtual reversal in the propensity to vote for life sentences versus capital punishment. This study examined potential jury bias with the shift in both support for capital punishment and jury decisions in capital cases. This study attempted to identify those characteristics that correlated with juror bias in favor of the death penalty in two Louisiana parishes: East Baton Rouge and Tangipahoa. Two surveys were conducted in 1996 and 1997 in East Baton Rouge and Tangipahoa. The survey questionnaires were administered during the voir dire process of a jury. Jurors were chosen from voter registration rolls and utility subscribers within the parish. The survey provided information on several variables: education, income, degree of religiosity, political party affiliation, political ideology, and race. Results clearly show race to be the overriding factor related to possible juror bias. Blacks constituted two-thirds of the total death penalty opposition. The variables did not exhibit any significant relationship with the dependent variable of attitudes toward the death penalty. The results indicate the need to further examine the practical or policy implications of these findings. The results raise several questions about death penalty attitudes and juror bias. References