The Nation - News from Nov. 17, 1985

People who murder whites are prosecuted more frequently and are being executed at 11 times the rate of those who kill blacks, the Dallas Times Herald reported. In Maryland, the killer of a white person is eight times more likely to get the death penalty than the killer of a black person. In Arkansas, the likelihood is six times greater, and in Texas, it is five times greater, the newspaper said. Nationally, the killer of a white is nearly three times more likely to be sentenced to death than the killer of a black in the 32 states that have the death penalty, the newspaper said in its survey of FBI statistics.