(FYI...feel free to post your thoughts if you wish...)

July 24, 2000
Death Sentences Highlight Racial Gap
Filed at 9:28 a.m. EDT
By The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) -- White defendants in federal capital cases are more likely than blacks to negotiate plea bargains that spare their lives, according to an analysis of 146 cases prosecuted since Congress reinstated capital punishment.

Sixty percent of white defendants avoided capital punishment through a negotiated settlement in cases in which the Justice Department chose to pursue the death penalty. Typically, those plea bargains result in either life sentences or long prison terms.

For black defendants in those cases, 41 percent reached an agreement with prosecutors, according to the Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel Project, a private group that receives federal funding to track federal capital cases.

``This raises a red flag,'' said David Baldus, a University of Iowa law professor who has studied race and the death penalty. ``The sample on the plea agreements isn't so small at all, and the magnitude of the disparity is very strong.''

The analysis parallels a Justice Department study of geographic and racial differences in the imposition of the death penalty. This month, President Clinton ordered the postponement of the first federal execution in 40 years, scheduled for Aug. 5, until the Justice Department could complete the review and establish clemency procedures.

Attorney General Janet Reno said last week she expects the results soon.

Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said the statistical disparity alone does not necessarily demonstrate racial bias by federal prosecutors.

``Plea bargain numbers alone can be misleading,'' Marlin told the Chicago Tribune. ``They do not show how often pleas are offered or the rates at which they were rejected or accepted ... One cannot tell the severity of the offense involved, the strength of the case or considerations affected by judicial rulings during the course of the trial.''


~~wbg~~
AIM: wbgirl218

http://www.breastcancer3day.org
between this and the (re), Chicago in 2001 will be on some whole new fantabulous shyt! (c) me

"When it comes to food for thought, some of us are on a hunger strike." (c) Dick Gregory

Ju-Lie as Fake Quote Month:
"eff the o'jays! i ain't listening to nuthin' but hip-hop now on! that biggie is somethin' else, ya know?" (c) steve harvey

I shoulda replied yesterday when I first saw you post on this article. My bad.

So what is gonna happen now? Is the federal gov't gonna make the states put all executions on hold? I don't think so, but what can be done with news of this study being made public?

C'mon N'western alums s'pposed to be smarter than us MIZZOU folks.


____________________________________________
Marinate on that!!!!!!!!!!!


Ju-LIE QUOTATION for the Week************************


"Can't You See" was our biggest hit. All because of Biggie!!!
-----kec(Pam)

Clinton already put a moratorium on the one federal execution that was scheduled for any time soon. This is a very important study, because the feds lead the nation, but in the grand scheme of things, don't forget that federal capital cases are few and far between. The last federal execution was in the early 60s.

That being said, this is the first official recognition that the court system (any court system, any portion of the court system) is biased. This is a big step in the right direction and Clinton's action is a good one (there are new appeal procedures that the federal prisoner is being given time to follow), but I haven't blown up the balloons for the big celebration yet.

Peace.

Below is the text of an article in which the execution delay is reported:

The Justice Department is gathering data which shows that minorities make up three-quarters of the defendants in federal capital cases, reported The New York Times today. As a result, their sources say that the Clinton administration plans to delay the first federal execution in 40 years while they review concerns about racial and geographic disparities in death penalty cases.

According to the article, President Clinton has referred to the statistics from an upcoming Justice Department report as evidencing "the disturbing racial composition" of death penalty defendants. The Times reports that, since 1988, "the attorney general has authorized the death penalty against 199 defendants," 103 of whom were black.

The release of the Justice Department's report will undoubtedly raise questions about the fairness of death penalty cases with respect to minorities, which is likely the reason for postponing the execution of Juan Raul Garza who is scheduled to be put to death on August 5 for the murders of three people.

The release of the Justice Department's statistics doesn't mark the first time the Clinton administration has been presented with evidence of racial disparities in death penalty cases. According to an Amnesty International report on race and the death penalty, the Presidential Advisory Board on Race commented on the disparities back in 1998 saying:

"These disparities are probably due in part to underlying disparities in criminal behavior. But evidence shows that these disparities also are due in part to discrimination in the administration of justice and to policies and practices that have an unjustified disparate impact on minorities and people of color."

However, the board was "deliberately excluded from examining capital punishment," according to the report.
The Justice Department plans to announce new clemency procedures in a week or two, which will allow Garza and other death row inmates' lawyers to petition a clemency panel on behalf of their clients.


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Peace.

(and yes, NU alums are much smarter than you Mizzou folks...:-))

and to be honest, i have no idea what they hoped to gain by making this study public. i'm guessing we'll have to wait until the "official" study by the justice department is completed to see what's what.

and even if clinton does halt federal executions, it's only gonna last until the next president is sworn in...and if g.w. is elected (*shudder*), then i think we can all guess at what's gonna happen.

just sayin'.

~~wbg~~
AIM: wbgirl218

http://www.breastcancer3day.org
between this and the (re), Chicago in 2001 will be on some whole new fantabulous shyt! (c) me

"When it comes to food for thought, some of us are on a hunger strike." (c) Dick Gregory

Ju-Lie as Fake Quote Month:
"eff the o'jays! i ain't listening to nuthin' but hip-hop now on! that biggie is somethin' else, ya know?" (c) steve harvey