RACE: New Study Shows Racial Bias in Seeking the Death Penalty in Harris County

A new study regard­ing the use of the death penal­ty in Harris County, Texas, was released in con­junc­tion with the fil­ing of an appeal by Harris County death row inmate, Duane Buck. The research was con­duct­ed by Professor Raymond Paternoster of the University of Maryland, who exam­ined over 500 mur­der cas­es in the coun­ty. The study found that, in cas­es with cir­cum­stances sim­i­lar to Buck’s and dur­ing the time in which he was tried, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office sought the death penal­ty 3.5 times more often when the defen­dant was African-American than when the defen­dant was white. When the cas­es were sub­mit­ted to Harris County (Houston) juries, the net result was a greater pro­por­tion of African-American defen­dants end­ed with death sen­tences than white defen­dants. Buck’s case is also con­tro­ver­sial because an expert wit­ness tes­ti­fied at Buck’s tri­al that he was more like­ly to pose a future dan­ger to soci­ety because he is African American, and hence more like­ly to com­mit vio­lence. Read full study.

(L. Akinwole Bandele, ​“Racism and the Death Penalty: New Evidence,” Ebony, March 13, 2013). See Race and Studies. See addi­tion­al stud­ies about racial bias in Harris county.