A new death penalty study finds that in Maryland, blacks are more likely to be sentenced to death if their victims are white. The study was commissioned in 2000 by outgoing Governor Parris Glendening. "Criminologist Ray Paternoster found that the race of the defendant was not significant in death penalty-eligible cases, but wrote that the race of the victim proved a major factor in determining whether prosecutors sought the death penalty."

From the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty ( NCADP):

The study, conducted by the University of Maryland criminologist Ray Pateroster, found that black offenders who kill white victims are most likely to receive the death penalty. Of the 12 people currently on Maryland's death row, eight are black and four are white, and every person on death row was convicted in connection with the murder of a white victim. This is despite the fact that in recent years, about 80 percent of homicides in the state of Maryland involve black victims.
"Race plays a key role in who is sentenced to death across the United States in general and in Maryland in particular," said Steven W. Hawkins, NCADP executive director. "Our criminal justice system is supposed to be colorblind, but as this study shows, it is the exact opposite. Somehow, our system seems
to value the lives of white victims more than it does black victims."

The study also found tremendous geographic bias in how prosecutors seek the death penalty. About three-fourths of the people on Maryland's death row were prosecuted in Baltimore County, a largely suburban area that surrounds the city of Baltimore. Yet Baltimore County accounts for only 7 percent of Maryland's homicides. Prosecutors in most Maryland counties do not even seek death sentences, perhaps over concerns over cost and perhaps over concerns about
prevailing community sentiment.

"We know that geographic bias plays a role in the death penalty nationwide," Hawkins said. "In 2002, for example, only 13 states carried out executions -- a modern day low. This geographic bias seems even more pronounced in Maryland, where people prosecuted in Baltimore County are many times more likely to face a possible death sentence than people prosecuted in Montgomery or Prince George's County, or in the city of Baltimore."

Let's hope this bodes well for Maryland retaining its moratorium on the death penalty.

Update: The 79 page Executive Summary of the report is here. An e-mail from the Justice Project advises that "the report will be used to call for the state's General Assembly to pass a legislative moratorium on the death penalty. Gov.-elect Ehrlich has stated previous to the report's release he will terminate the moratorium upon his upcoming inauguration."

Here is the University of Maryland's press release on the study.