The Effect of Race, Gender, and Location on Prosecutorial Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in South Carolina
The Effect of Race, Gender, and Location on Prosecutorial Decision to Seek the Death Penalty in South Carolina
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种族、性别和地点对南卡罗来纳州寻求死刑的检察官决定的影响
DOI：
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发表时间：
2011
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Isaac Unah
中科院分区：
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作者：
Michael J. Songer;Isaac Unah
本文通过分析1993年至1997年南卡罗来纳州州检察官寻求死刑的决定，有助于死刑辩论。我们的中心重点是非法律线索的潜在影响，如种族，性别和犯罪地点在塑造检察选择。因为检察官是在南卡罗来纳州选举产生的，我们控制了检察决定的政治背景。实证分析表明，与规范性期望和为引导国家官员的决定而制定的许多法律的准则相反，死刑的执行仍然是政府权力承诺的一个不完美的体现。除了法律规定的法定加重处罚因素外，在南卡罗来纳州寻求死刑的检察官决定受到受害者种族、性别以及犯罪地点是农村还是城市的强烈制约。此外，我们发现，在国家检察官决定死刑时，政治背景很重要。调查结果对确定哪些被告罪犯应面临死刑，哪些不应面临死刑的程序的合法性提出了质疑。
This article contributes to the death penalty debate by analyzing the decision of state prosecutors to seek the death penalty in South Carolina from 1993 to 1997. Our central focus is on the potential impact of non-legal cues such as race, gender, and location of the crime in shaping prosecutorial choices. Because prosecutors are elected in South Carolina, we control for the political context of prosecutorial decisions. The empirical analysis indicates that contrary to normative expectations and numerous legal guidelines that have been established to channel the decisions of state officials, the administration of capital punishment remains an imperfect embodiment of the promise of governmental power. Beyond legally mandated statutory aggravating factors, prosecutorial decisions to seek the death penalty in South Carolina are strongly conditioned by the race of the victim, gender, and the rural versus urban location of the crime. In addition, we find that political context matters in the decisions of state prosecutors to go for death. The findings challenge the legitimacy of the process of determining which accused offender should face the death penalty and which should not.