RT Article
T1 Racial and Gender Threat and the Death Penalty: A County-Level Examination of Sociopolitical Factors Influencing Death Sentences
JF Criminal justice policy review
VO 34
IS 2
SP 161
OP 183
A1 Schmuhl, Margaret
A2 Mills, Colleen E.
A2 Silva, Jason
A2 Capellan, Joel
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/183131777X
AB The death penalty is a local phenomenon with 15% of U.S. counties responsible for passing death sentences since 1976. Although state-level research has contributed a greater understanding of abolition and state-level factors surrounding the death penalty, it remains crucially important to understand the sociopolitical context of counties as key decision-makers in death penalty cases. Findings from our study suggest that both racial and gender threats are important predictors of death sentences within these communities. Specifically, counties with Black populations greater than the state median experience increases in all death sentences, while gender equality in education produces an ameliorative effect on death sentencing. The persistence of extralegal factors, especially racial bias, influencing death sentencing suggests that these relationships be carefully considered in the research and administration of capital sentencing.
K1 Death Penalty
K1 Gender Equality
K1 Sentencing
K1 Racial threat
K1 Punishment
DO 10.1177/08874034221128939