News and Developments 2005: Race

Maryland Race Study Author Finds Death Penalty Practices "Disturbing"

Posted: December 28, 2005
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Professor Ray Paternoster of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland was the senior author of a 2003 state-commissioned review of the role that race and geography play in Maryland's death penalty practice.  He recently wrote about the study's findings in the Baltimore Sun:

New Voices: Former Maryland Governor Criticizes State's Racial Disparities

Posted: December 19, 2005
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In a recent op-ed, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening criticized the "troubling" racial and geographic disparities that plague the state's death penalty. Glendening, who served as Governor from 1995 to 2003, commissioned a study of Maryland's death penalty during his time in office and implemented a moratorium on executions during his second term to allow time for action to be taken to prevent these on-going problems. He wrote:

Birmingham News Reverses Its Position on the Death Penalty

Posted: December 08, 2005
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Editorial series calls for end to capital punishment

The Birmingham News, a consistent supporter of capital punishment in the past, is now advocating that the state abandon the use of the death penalty. In an editorial series that was published November 6 - 11, 2005, the paper stated that there are serious flaws in the application of the death penalty in Alabama. It also said that the death penalty is inconsistent with the paper’s commitment to a culture of life.

122nd Inmate Freed From Death Row

Posted: November 18, 2005
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Harold Wilson is the 6th Person Exonerated in Pennsylvania

More than 16 years after a Pennsylvania jury returned three death sentences against Harold Wilson, new DNA evidence has led to his acquittal. During Wilson's 1989 capital trial, the prosecution used racially discriminatory practices in selecting the jury.

In 1999, Wilson’s death sentence was overturned when a court determined that his defense counsel had failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence during his original trial. A later appeal led to the overturning of his conviction and a new trial because of the race bias in selecting the jury. The court held that at the new trial the death penalty could not be sought. On November 15, 2005, a new jury that did not have to be "death-qualified" and that was properly chosen, acquitted Wilson of all charges. DNA evidence revealed that blood from the crime scene did not come from Wilson or any of the victims, a finding suggesting the involvement of another assailant.

Pennsylvania Man Becomes the 122nd Inmate Freed From Death Row

Posted: November 16, 2005
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More than 16 years after a Pennsylvania jury returned three death sentences against Harold Wilson (pictured), new DNA evidence has helped lead to his acquittal. Yesterday, Wilson became the nation’s 122nd person freed from death row according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). During his 1989 capital trial, Wilson was prosecuted by former Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Jack McMahon, a man best known for his role in a training video that advised new Philadelphia prosecutors on how to use race in selecting death penalty juries.

In 1999, Wilson’s death sentence was overturned when a court determined that his defense counsel had failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence during his original trial. A later appeal led the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to call for a new hearing because of evidence that McMahon used racially discriminatory practices in jury selection. In 2003, a trial court found that McMahon had improperly exercised his peremptory strikes to eliminate potential black jurors and granted Wilson a new trial, a decision that the District Attorney’s office did not appeal.  The court stated that in the new trial the death penalty could not be sought.  The jury in this most recent trial acquitted Wilson of all charges on November 15, 2005, after new DNA evidence revealed blood from the crime scene that did not come from Wilson or any of the victims, a finding suggesting the involvement of another assailant.

Racial Bias in Jury Selection Practices Leads to Vacated Murder Conviction

Posted: October 18, 2005
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A prosecutor training videotape featuring former Philadelphia assistant district attorney Jack McMahon discussing techniques to keep African Americans off of juries has resulted in yet another murder conviction reversal. Noting that the tape is "compelling evidence" that McMahon "regularly acted with discriminatory animus toward African-American jurors," a practice made unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court's 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky, the U.S.

Race and the Death Penalty in California

Posted: September 28, 2005
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RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN CALIFORNIA

A recent study to be published in the Santa Clara Law Review found that the race of the victim in the underlying murder greatly affected whether a defendant would be sentenced to death.

Generally, there are more Hispanic and African American victims of murder in California:

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Research Links Historical Lynchings to Modern Murder Rates and Capital Punishment

Posted: September 26, 2005
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Recent research has revealed a close correlation between the U.S. states that historically carried out the most lynchings and the states that today have the highest homicide rates and most death sentences.  In a study led by sociologist Steven Messner of the State University of New York at Albany, county data from 10 southern states where historically reliable information on vigilante lynchings between 1882 and 1930 is available were examined (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee).