Victim age and capital sentencing outcomes in North Carolina (1977–2009)

Age is prominent among theories of criminology and victimology. It is less conspicuous in punishment theory, despite its emphasis in retributive theory and lawmaking. The present study evaluated competing ‘years of life lost’ and ‘vulnerable victim’ hypotheses to examine the influence of victim age...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marier, Christopher J. (Author)
Contributors: Bjerregaard, Beth ; Cochran, John K. ; Fogel, Sondra J. ; Smith, M. Dwayne
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: Criminal justice studies
Year: 2018, Volume: 31, Issue: 1, Pages: 62-79
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Capital Punishment
Child victims
Elderly victims
Victim age
Vulnerable victims
death penalty
Description
Summary:Age is prominent among theories of criminology and victimology. It is less conspicuous in punishment theory, despite its emphasis in retributive theory and lawmaking. The present study evaluated competing ‘years of life lost’ and ‘vulnerable victim’ hypotheses to examine the influence of victim age in capital sentencing decisions. Using case file data on the population of capital murder trials in the State of North Carolina (1977-2009), our findings produce mixed results. Our quantitative analyses suggest that death sentences are significantly less likely in direct proportion to victim age. Killers of elderly victims are less likely to receive the death penalty; conversely, the odds of a death sentences are slightly greater for killers of child victims. Supplementary qualitative analyses suggest that while many child and elderly victims were not per se ‘vulnerable,’ a substantial subset of each clearly were treated as such. We discuss implications for vulnerable victim research and the role of quasi-legal factors in case outcomes.
ISSN:1478-6028
DOI:10.1080/1478601X.2017.1404464