Research on death qualification—the selection of jurors who are qualified to serve on a capital case because they are willing to sentence someone to death—has revealed additional characteristics among such jurors. Professor Brooke Butler of the University of South Florida in Sarasota has studied such jurors and published her results in the journal of Behavioral Sciences and the Law. Her study, “Death qualification and prejudice: the effect of implicit racism, sexism, and homophobia on capital defendants’ right to due process,” surveyed 200 juror candidates from the 12th Circuit in Bradenton, Florida. In addition to the questions that measured their support for the death penalty and their death-qualification status, she studied their attitudes towards women, gays, and people of other races. The results indicated that as death penalty support increased, participants exhibited more negative attitudes towards women, homosexuals, and people of other races.
(B. Butler, “Death qualification and prejudice: The effect of implicit racism, sexism, and homophobia on capital defendants’ right to due process,” 25 Behavioral Sciences and the Law 857-867 (2007)). See Studies and Race. A 2007 poll conducted by the Death Penalty Information Center found 39 percent of Americans believed they would be disqualified from from serving on a jury in a capital case because of their beliefs.
