NCJ Number
104032
Journal
ABA Journal Dated: (January 1, 1987 ) Pages: 51-55
Date Published
1987
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Two cases now before the U.S. Supreme Court introduce statistics arguing the existence of racial discrimination in death penalty decisions and raise the issue of the role of statistical studies in judicial decisions.
Abstract
McCleskey v. Kemp involves a black man convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer. It uses data from a study of 1,084 homicide and voluntary manslaughter cases in Georgia between 1973 and 1984. The study concludes that killers of white people in Georgia are 4.3 times more likely to receive the death penalty than killers of black people. Similarly, data compiled for the Florida case of Hitchcock v. Wainwright argue that those who kill whites are 4.8 times more likely to receive the death sentence in Florida than those who kill blacks. The Georgia appeals court held that the statistical evidence was flawed. It is doubtful that the U.S. Supreme Court will accept the Georgia statistical evidence. In many cases the Court has refused to grant stays that were requested based on statistical issues. A ruling in favor of McCleskey could lead to widespread challenges of all kinds of criminal sentences. However, the death penalty is likely to receive further challenges based on issues other than the one raised in McCleskey. Photographs and a discussion of possible use of the death penalty in cases not involving murder.