Racial disparity and death sentences in Ohio

Abstract

The use of the death penalty has resulted in a number of studies attempting to determine if its application is consistent with the guidelines established by the United States Supreme Court. In particular, many studies have assessed whether there are racial disparities in the imposition of death sentences. This study examined the imposition of death sentences in Ohio, a state largely ignored by previous research and that, until 1999, had not executed an inmate since 1963. Drawing from previous studies that have examined the issue in other states, this study assessed the likelihood that a particular homicide would result in a death sentence, controlling for race of defendant and victim and other relevant factors. Results indicated both legal and extralegal factors (including race of victim) were significant predictors of a death sentence, supporting many previous studies that concluded that race plays a role in the imposition of the death penalty.

The Intersection of Victims’ and Offenders’ Sex and Race/Ethnicity on Prosecutorial Decisions for Violent Crimes

“…Therefore, a more severe sanction is required in order to reinforce social norms. Research on homicide (Baldus, Woodworth, and Pulaski, 1990;Holcomb, Williams, and Demuth, 2004;Williams and Holcomb, 2001) and rape (LaFree, 1989;Walsh, 1987) generally support these points of view.…”

Effects of perspective taking on courtroom decisions

“…While we did test the effects of defendant, victim, and participant gender, there are a number of other intergroup factors that should be examined in future research. For instance, past research shows that a black defendant is more likely to be seen as responsible for a crime when the victim of the crime is White (Hymes, Leinart, Rowe, & Rogers, ; Klein & Creech, ; Sweeney & Haney, ; Williams & Holcomb, ). Similarly, the stereotypicality of a crime plays a significant role in determining if a defendant is likely to be viewed as responsible for the crime (Gordon, Michels, & Nelson, ; Skorinko & Spellman, ; Sunnafrank & Fontes, ; Willis Esqueda, ).…”

Leniency for out‐group offenders

“…The perpetrator was always described as male because vandalism, burglary, and armed robbery are typically more likely to be committed by male offenders. In all three scenarios, nothing was said about the respective victims because the victim's group membership might have influenced sentencing decisions (Mazzella & Feingold, 1994; Stevenson, Sorenson, Smith, Sekely, & Dzwairo, ; Sweeney & Haney, ; Williams & Holcomb, ).…”

“…Some studies suggest that out‐group offenders receive harsher punishment than in‐group offenders (Graham, Weiner, & Zucker, ; Sommers & Ellsworth, , ; Steffensmeier & Demuth, ). Other research, however, has found no compelling evidence that the offenders' group membership affects punitive judgments, neither in controlled vignette studies (e.g., Mazzella & Feingold, 1994) nor in real court cases (e.g., Williams & Holcomb, ).…”