Racial Bias | Equal Justice Initiative

Racial discrimination remains a dominant feature of criminal justice in the United States and Alabama. More than half of the over 3300 people on death row nationwide are people of color; nearly 42% are African American. Prominent researchers have demonstrated that a defendant is more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white than if the victim is black. The key decision makers in death penalty cases across the country are almost exclusively white. Despite decades of evidence showing that the administration of the death penalty is permeated with racial bias, courts and legislatures’ refusal to address race in any comprehensive way reveals a fundamental flaw in America’s justice system.

Each year in Alabama, nearly 65% of all murders involve black victims, yet 80% of the people currently awaiting execution in Alabama were convicted of crimes in which the victims were white. Only 6% of all murders in Alabama involve black defendants and white victims, but over 60% of black death row prisoners have been sentenced for killing someone white.

Although black people in Alabama constitute 27% of the total population, none of the 19 appellate court judges and only one of the 42 elected District Attorneys in Alabama is black. Nearly 63% of the Alabama prison population is black. The State of Alabama disenfranchises more of its citizens as a result of criminal convictions than any other state in the country.

EJI litigates on behalf of criminal defendants whose convictions have been unlawfully obtained on the basis of racial discrimination. In the last ten years, 23 capital cases in Alabama have been reversed after it was proven that prosecutors illegally excluded black people from jury service.

News

Jimmy Carter Calls for End to Death Penalty

May 7, 2012

In an editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jimmy Carter explains the "overwhelming ethical, financial, and religious reasons to abolish the death penalty." The former President and founder of The Carter Center notes that the tide of public opinion has been steadily turning against capital punishment, with a solid majority of Americans now preferring an alternative punishment to the death penalty.

Federal Court Orders Additional Review in Alabama Death Penalty Case

May 2, 2012

EJI has won relief for Vernon Madison based on a claim that the prosecutor illegally excluded African Americans from serving on Mr. Madison's jury.

Court Bans Death Penalty Under Racial Justice Act in North Carolina

April 20, 2012

Judge Greg Weeks

Cumberland County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks this morning vacated Marcus Robinson's death sentence after finding that highly reliable evidence proves North Carolina prosecutors have intentionally discriminated against African Americans in selecting capital juries. The groundbreaking ruling follows the state's first evidentiary hearing under the Racial Justice Act, which requires that courts enter a life sentence for any death row defendant who proves that race was a factor in the imposition of the death penalty.

EJI Calls For Reform and Reflection Surrounding Shooting Death of Trayvon Martin

April 4, 2012

The February 26th shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has sparked shock, outrage, and action across the state of Florida and the nation, and around the world in a way few would have predicted. There are many reasons to mourn the death of a young man shot on his way home from buying candy during an encounter that indisputably began solely because his black skin and hooded sweatshirt convinced an armed neighbor that Trayvon was “suspicious,” dangerous, and a threat.

Alabama Supreme Court Sets Two Execution Dates

February 22, 2012

The Alabama Supreme Court has scheduled execution dates for Tommy Arthur and Carey Grayson, despite questions about the reliability of their death sentences.

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