Death row in the U.S. has always held a disproportionately large population of people of color relative to the general population. The most important factor in levying the death penalty, however, is the race of the victim. A 1998 report by the Death Penalty Information Center summarizes the findings of several scholars which illustrate this point. For example, in Florida, in comparable cases, a defendant s odds of receiving a death sentence are 4.8 times higher if the victim was white than if the victim was black. In Illinois the multiplier is 4, in Oklahoma it is 4.3, in North Carolina, 4.4, and in Mississippi, it is 5.5.
Several studies show the effects of outright racial discrimination.
One recent example, a 1998 University of Iowa study of sentencing in Philadelphia, showed that the odds of receiving a death sentence are nearly 3.9 times greater if the defendant is African American. These patterns of racial disparities are partly explained by the fact that the nation s prosecutors, who make the threshold decision about whether or not to seek the death penalty are almost exclusively white men. New York State has only one African American district attorney. In some states, a death sentence is rare. Kansas, only two.