The fed­er­al death penal­ty impacts racial minori­ties dif­fer­ent­ly than it does whites accord­ing to a recent report from the American Civil Liberties Union. The report, The Persistent Problem of Racial Disparities in the Federal Death Penalty, notes that defen­dants of col­or make up the major­i­ty of the fed­er­al death row. And the risk of a case being autho­rized for the death penal­ty is 84% high­er in cas­es where the vic­tim is white, regard­less of the race of the defen­dant. The report point­ed to ear­li­er Justice Department sta­tis­tics that showed that almost twice the per­cent­age of white defen­dants had the pos­si­bil­i­ty of a death sen­tence being removed through plea bar­gain­ing than the per­cent­age of defen­dants of col­or.

In light of this evi­dence, the ACLU called for a mora­to­ri­um on the fed­er­al death penal­ty and for Congress to con­duct a study to exam­ine the racial dis­par­i­ties. The group also rec­om­mend­ed pas­sage of a Racial Justice Act to allow cap­i­tal defen­dants to use sta­tis­tics as evi­dence of racial bias, as well as a law requir­ing the Department of Justice to report on its imple­men­ta­tion of the fed­er­al death penalty. 

(ACLU Report, The Persistent Problem of Racial Disparities in the Federal Death Penalty,” June 25, 2007). Read the Report. See Federal Death Penalty and Race.

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