A Test of Racial Bias in Capital Sentencing
American Economic Review
vol. 104,
no. 11, November 2014
(pp. 3397-3433)
Abstract
We collect a new dataset on capital punishment in the US and we propose a test of racial bias based upon patterns of sentence reversals. We model the courts as minimizing type I and II errors. If trial courts were unbiased, conditional on defendants race the error rate should be independent of the victims race. Instead we uncover 3 and 9 percentage points higher reversal rates in Direct Appeal and Habeas Corpus cases, respectively, against minority defendants who killed whites. The pattern for white defendants is opposite but not statistically significant. This bias is confined to Southern States.Citation
Alesina, Alberto, and Eliana La Ferrara. 2014. "A Test of Racial Bias in Capital Sentencing." American Economic Review, 104 (11): 3397-3433. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.11.3397Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- K41 Litigation Process
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law