Death Penalty Cases Show Race Disparities

Critics of the death penalty say fresh findings from a Georgia judicial circuit provide new evidence that sharp racial disparities exist in capital punishment cases across the nation.

The report released today, prepared by the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, focuses on the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit in west Georgia. The circuit includes Georgia’s second-largest city, Columbus, and a huge Army installation at Ft. Benning.

Among the findings:

--Prosecutors in the circuit have sought the death penalty in 34.3% of potential capital cases in which the victims were white but in only 5.8% of the cases in which the victims were black.

--In the 10 capital cases involving black defendants, death was imposed nine times, while the 18 capital cases involving white defendants resulted in 11 death sentences.

--Blacks account for 65% of all homicide victims in the circuit, but 85% of the trials over the last 17 years involved cases in which the victims were white.