based
on information provided by
Death
Penalty Information Center
The
arbitrariness inherent in the sentencer’s discretion to afford mercy is
exacerbated by the problem of race. Even
under the most sophisticated death penalty statutes, race continues to
play a major role in determining who shall live and who shall die.
--U. S. Supreme Court Justice Blackmun1
A
disproportionate number of those subjected to the death penalty in the
United States are people of color. While
this statistical imbalance by itself does not prove discrimination, there
are strong indicators that race and ethnicity play a major role in deciding
who will be prosecuted for capital crimes and executed. Given
this statistical imbalance, the expanded use of the death penalty by states
and the federal government, together with new restrictions that have been
placed on the ability of those sentenced to death to appeal their convictions,
increases the chance that people of color will be subjected to the death penalty.
International
human rights standards, and CERD in particular, do not prohibit the application
of the death penalty outright. [1]But
if the death penalty is applied in a discriminatory manner based on race
and ethnicity it would violate CERD’s requirements, as well as the equal
protection standards of the U. S. Constitution. It
is noteworthy in this regard that CERD’sprohibition
would be applicable whenever the conduct in question has either discriminatory
effect or intent. The existence of
a disparate impact would be enough to trigger CERD even if a purposeful
intent to discriminate can not be established. For
this reason, the failure of the federal government to prevent discriminatory
results in the application of the death penalty would constitute a violation
of CERD, even in the absence of proven intentional bias, which is necessary
under U. S. Constitutional equal protection standards as applied by
U. S. courts.
There
is increasing concern, and a growing body of evidence, that race and ethnicity
are major factors in determining who is prosecuted for a capital crime,
and who ends up being subjected to the death penalty. Six
hundred and fifty-seven people have been executed in the United States
since 1976. [2]Of
those executed, 45% have been people of color: 36% African American, 7%
Hispanic and 2% Native American and Asian American. [3]Additionally,
there are 3,682 inmates currently on death row. [4]Of
these individuals, 54% are people of color: 43% African American, 9% Hispanic
and 2% either Native American or Asian American. [5]
A
review of research on the application of the death penalty shows that among
the thirty-eight states where capital punishment is carried out, statistical
studies on race have been conducted in twenty-seven (three-quarters) of
these states. Excluding the states
where no data is reported, the percentage of states where race has been
found to be a significant factor in the application of the death penalty
based on the race of the victim is 93%, and the percentage where race is
significant based on the race of the offender is nearly 50%. [6]
