Even more reasons to outlaw capital punisment!

I also found it interesting in the study that in states that are Republican leaning are where more execution occur.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20072722/site/newsweek/

Here's the full article by the way....

Aug. 1, 2007 - Is American justice colorblind? A new study finds that blacks on death row convicted of killing whites are more likely to be executed than whites who kill minorities. It also concludes that blacks who kill other minorities are less likely to be executed than blacks who kill whites. The authors of the report say their findings raise serious doubts about claims that the U.S. criminal justice system is colorblind.

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Appearing in the August issue of American Sociological Review, the report claims to be the first of its kind to study whether the race of murder victims affects the probability that a convicted killer gets the ultimate punishment. The study examined outcomes of 1,560 people sentenced to death in 16 states between 1972 and 2002. NEWSWEEK's Eve Conant spoke to David Jacobs, coauthor of the study and a professor of sociology and political science at Ohio State University. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Why did you do this study?
David Jacobs: Because the role of race is a fundamental question about the death penalty. There was a lot of research, mostly on one or two Southern states, which found that if an African-American killed a white, that they'd be more likely to get the death penalty. But you have to remember that only about 10 percent of those who get the death sentence actually get executed. Most people wind up leaving death row and going back to prison where they serve long sentences. But we really didn't know much about what happened to offenders after they were sentenced to death and that's what's unique about this study. We didn't know the factors that cause executions. There have been a few studies, but we didn't know if a black or Hispanic who kills a white person would be more likely to be executed. We knew it was more likely that these offenders would get the death sentence. But we didn't know if they were more likely to actually get executed.

So what did you find?
Holding a whole bunch of stuff constant, including several political variables, we found that if a black person killed a white person they were more likely to get executed. If a Hispanic killed a white person they were also more likely, but this probability wasn't quite as strong. There is more than a twofold greater risk that an African-American who killed a white will be executed than a white person who kills a nonwhite victim. A Hispanic is at least 1.4 times more likely to be executed if such an offender kills a white. Both findings are statistically significant. Also, the findings indicate that blacks who kill nonwhites are less likely to be executed than blacks who kill whites, which shows that the postsentencing capital-punishment process continues to place greater value on white lives.

Can we tell if the differences have been getting more even or time or not, given the time span of the study?
No, most executions happened in the 1990s, so we really couldn't discover period effects. As a result of the appeals process, people spend a long time on death row, so there weren't that many executions in the 1980s.

Was age at all a factor, or just race?
We checked for age but it was not significant.

Or the nature of the crime? Or was it simply race?
We don't have much data on the nature of the crime. But Supreme Court regulations require a state to come up with aggravating and mitigating factors for capital cases. Aggravating factors might include, say, the killing of a child or torturing a victim. Mitigating factors might include the age of the offender or their childhood experience, whether they were abused, etc.

So why do you think that blacks are twice as likely to get the death penalty for killing a white than a white for killing a nonwhite?
There are two plausible explanations. Prosecutors often win higher office if they win well-publicized cases. When a black kills a white such killings gets more publicity and we have evidence for that. Secondly—and perhaps even more plausible—appellate court justices at the state level are often subject to elections, called retention elections. That means they run unopposed without a party label. It's hard to blow an election like that. But some appellate justices in California and a few other states supposedly granted relief in too many death penalty appeals and got unelected in these retention elections. That's also why some states that are reluctant to execute just stall. California has something like 650 people who've been on death row, and since 1976 but this state has only executed about 15 people. They are dragging it out because they see the pressure and don't want to lose their seats. My fundamental point is that the death penalty is intrinsically political.

But also about race; that's what your study found.
Yes, it's both. The findings, in short, show that we clearly value white lives more than those of blacks or Hispanics.

You've been researching race in the judicial system for years. Was there anything in this study that particularly surprised you?
What is interesting is the characteristics of states that make the death penalty legal and lead to additional executions. At the state level we found that … the greater the strength of the Republican Party in the state, the more likely you'll have executions, death sentences or that capital punishment will be legal in the state.

What about the size of the African-American population in any given state, does that play any role?
Yes, up to a point. As the black population grows in a given state, then executions become more likely, probably because whites fear blacks. But after a point—when the black population reaches about 16 percent—executions start to diminish probably because blacks become politically strong enough to reduce executions when their proportions reach that level. What bothered me about this study is that we couldn't get more cooperation from state corrections departments. We'd like to expand beyond the 16 states we studied: Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

when someone kills they should be killed.. its not like were being racicst just cus black people get all cracked out and kill more people then white people do. there should be no death row. there should just be death. why wait 10 years to die.

I agree with Jay 100%

yeah that 10 year wait is why people think they can get away with stuff. I bet if they knew they would be put to death quickly they would stop and think first.

uh...what about judicial process? what about the fact that you have to be PROVEN guilty? what about the mistakes that are made?

when you start stripping away rights...what happens then?

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this study is NOT about whether or not you agree with capital punishment...it's about the trend for crimes committed upon caucasians by non-caucasians being punished more harshly. it's about whites getting off for the same crimes...it's about flat-out racism in the judicial system.

Every issue can be turned into somthing against races of any colors. I'm sure Al Sharpton will be on it in no time.

this isn't about spin...it's an evaluation of the data. that's all.

coming from an admitted racist...your comment sucks.

Fitness,
You are buying into a mindboggle designed to hype hatred between the races created by elite sociological types with an agenda to have equality at any price. The agenda is more about bringing down the white male dominance in society than anything else. Support the agenda if you want to have greater racial division. But if you are doing to to take down white dominance you are behind the curve. Dominance is based more on the basis of wealth than color. Never think that a poor white man will get a better shake than a poor black man. If you believe that it only suggests you are racist yourself.

As for creating a more equitable system for justice, maybe you can start with electing judges instead of appointing them.

A large problem with justice currently is that there is unequal defense. OJ Simpson is a case in point. Over a year was spent fighting that case. OJ won the case even though most people believe he was guilty. If he had been a poor white man do you think he would have gotten the death penalty? Most likely. Your argument is bogus and designed to create conflict.

Let me take a moment to remind people how many times people have been convicted incorrectly. It is a horrible thing to execute someone who was innocent in the first place. This is not a racial issue. It is a matter of guilt and innocence.

Capital punishment might make more sense if there was not so much error in the judicial process.

If someone has been guilty of murder I have no particular issues with how the justice system deals with their punishment. I don't feel the need to protect the life of a murderer, but I do consider it important to protect others from murderers. I event think it is important to protect people in prisons for other offenses from people in prison for murder, or assault for that matter.

My comment comes from my loss of respect for that man because every issue he finds offending, he starts a jihad over, and its really ridiculous.

But I have never seen a survey where white race people come out on top unless its "smallest penis size".

You have to look at all the facts, Like:

Black-on black murder may be a non-story, but the tragedy is that black homicides fuel the nation's murder surge. A week before the New Orleans carnage, the Violence Policy Center reported that black murders are off-the chart in many of America's big cities. The Bureau of Justice in its report on homicides went one better and found that the black murder rate is many times higher than that of whites, or even Latinos. In fact it's the leading cause of death among black males age 16 to 34.

By contrast, among white males murder drops to number five after accidents, suicide, cancer and heart disease as a cause of death. More police, dozens of new prisons and passing tougher laws haven't curbed black violence. And they won't. Blacks don't slaughter each other at such a terrifying rate because they are naturally violent or crime prone. They are not killing each other simply because they are poor and victimized by discrimination. Or because they are acting out the obscene and lewd violence they see and hear on TV, films, and in the gangster rap lyrics that blare on the streets.

The violence stems from a combustible blend of cultural and racial baggage many blacks carry. In the past crimes committed by blacks against other blacks were often ignored or lightly punished. The implicit message is that black lives were expendable. Many studies confirm that the punishment blacks receive when the victim is white is far more severe than if the victim is black.

The perceived devaluation of black lives by discrimination encourages disrespect for the law and drives many blacks to internalize anger and displace aggression onto others that, of course, look like them. They have become especially adept at acting out their frustrations at white society's denial of their "manhood" by adopting an exaggerated "tough guy" role. They swagger, boast, curse, fight and commit violent self-destructive acts.

You are right Lulu, our justice system is broken. They convict too many people who didn't do it, while others who did it go free. That is one reason I don't vote or serve on jury. Call me a Liberal or an Extremist but I have little confidence in our judicial system as it is today. I was speaking figuratively that if it could be proven that someone did something and punishment came quickly, they would think about doing things before they act. Their race is not the issue for me. Everyone is so worried about civil rights these days that our justice system is bogged down with it.

if you were the one being accused...you'd damned well want a proper judicial process.

if we take that away, and execute people on the spot...then where are we?

"Never think that a poor white man will get a better shake than a poor black man."

I would I agree with you if the study included the finicial situation of the death row inmate and the results showed it was the same. But the study only states that whites who killed non-white were still less likey to be executed than black who killed whites. So there is imblance in the system. One of the reasons, the study says, is that procecuters win on elections where high profile cases involved black murder trials. If it were white on non-white murder it would receive attention and the white murder would get off with a easier sentece. More disturbining is that black on black murders get off easier than black on white murders, which stirs indications of youthasia base on racial standards set by the system. It suggest that black on white murder deaths are more important that black on black murder deaths. In other words a murder of a black man is not as important than the murder of white man. Even in death there is no equality.

This article says nothing about the death penalty and everything about subtle, unintentional prejudice's of people who populate juries.

Also this is old news.

i think youll find that its more of a money thing than a racist thing. If you can afford a real attorney you have a lot better chance of getting off lighter. Thats just the way things work here. The courts are equal oppertunity oppressors.

"The courts are equal oppertunity oppressors."

Ramble the only part of the that statement I agree with is "oppressors."
I see you've read through article and made your own conclusion by dismissing facts.
Look at the sky, it's blue not green!

ajhagena I would respond to you with something more articulate but by the looks your pic your a bucket head and those word would be lost on you.