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Racial Disparities in Capital Punishment: Blind Justice Requires a Blindfold

By standdown

That's the title of an Issue Brief from the American Constitution Society written by Scott Phillips of the University of Denver.  It's in Adobe .pdf format at this LINK Here's the digest from ACS:In this Issue Brief, Professor Phillips describes research he conducted on race and capital punishment in Harris County, Texas. The author reports finding that the death penalty is more likely to be imposed against black defendants than white defendants, and death is more likely to be imposed on behalf of white victims than black victims. Professor Phillips explains that his research indicates that the racial disparities arise in the District Attorney's decision to seek the death penalty, rather than with the jury. He suggests that because the Supreme Court is unlikely to overrule McCleskey v...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on October 08, 2008 (boomark / email).