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.