Disparities in Death Penalty Prosecution and Punishment

Ulmer, Jeffery T.; Hanrath, Lily

doi:10.4324/9780429027765-13

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“…A large number of studies of capital sentencing have found that capital murders with white victims are more likely to result in the most punitive outcomes (see reviews by Baldus et al, 2019;General Accountability Office, 1990;Paternoster, 2011;Ulmer & Hanrath, 2019). Past research has found that prosecutors are more likely to seek the death penalty in cases with a white victim (e.g.…”

Section: Prior Research On Victim Gender and Racementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large body of research has inquired into the effects of defendant and victim race (see reviews by General Accountability Office, 1990;Paternoster, 2011;Ulmer & Hanrath, 2019). However, there is much less research on how victim gender influences capital punishment decisions, and even less on how victim gender and race might intersect to influence such decisions.…”

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Racialized Victim Gender Differences in Capital Decision Making in Pennsylvania

2021

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The death penalty has historically been used to communicate moral outrage and fear about the murders of some kinds of victims more than others. A large body of research has inquired into the effects of defendant race, and to a lesser extent victim race in capital punishment. However, there is much less research on how victim gender influences capital punishment decisions, and even less research on how victim gender and race might intersect to influence such decisions. This study examines the role of victim gender and race in: prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty, prosecutors' decisions to retract death filings, and jury or judge decisions to sentence defendants to the death penalty. We utilize detailed data on first degree murder convictions in 18 Pennsylvania counties, 2000-2010. The intersecting gender and race of victims conditioned each of the death penalty outcomes. In addition, whether the victim had children conditioned the effects of victim gender/race.

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Section: Prior Research On Victim Gender and Racementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Racialized Victim Gender Differences in Capital Decision Making in Pennsylvania

2021

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Geographic arbitrariness? County court variation in capital prosecution and sentencing in Pennsylvania

Ulmer

Zajac

Kramer

2020

Criminology & Public Policy

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The death penalty remains one of the most controversial issues of criminal punishment not only because of racial/ethnic disparities, wrongful convictions, and inadequate defense representation but also because of the potential for geographic arbitrariness. The key empirical proposition embedded in the concept of geographic arbitrariness is that localities react to legally and procedurally equal capital cases in much different ways. This study assesses whether this key proposition is observed. We use data on 880 capital murder cases, nested in 18 counties in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2010, to examine between-county differences in (a) prosecutors' filing of specific aggravating circumstances, (b) prosecutors' filings to seek the death penalty, (c) prosecutors' decisions to retract a death filing, and (d) court (judges' or juries') decisions to impose the death penalty. First, we found that counties differed substantially in their decisions connected to the same statutory aggravators and murder characteristics. Second, propensity score weighting models demonstrated meaningful and sometimes huge differences between specific counties in prosecutorial decisions to file to seek the death penalty, and to retract those filings. We also found meaningful differences in the likelihood of defendants being sentenced to death across counties, although differences were not as large as those for the prosecutorial decisions. Little evidence exists that county partisan

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Disparities in Death Penalty Prosecution and Punishment

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Racialized Victim Gender Differences in Capital Decision Making in Pennsylvania

Racialized Victim Gender Differences in Capital Decision Making in Pennsylvania

Geographic arbitrariness? County court variation in capital prosecution and sentencing in Pennsylvania

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