The Death Penalty in Delaware: An Empirical Study

IF 1 3区 社会学 Q2 LAW
John H. Blume, T. Eisenberg, Sheri L. Johnson, V. Hans
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引用次数: 4

Abstract

This article reports the findings of the first phase of a three phase empirical study of the death penalty in Delaware. In phase 1, we examined only cases in which the defendant was sentenced to death. While our findings are preliminary, there appear to be, as numerous other studies have found in other jurisdictions, race of victim effects. Seventy percent of the death sentences were imposed in white victim cases, even though the majority of the murder victims are black. Additionally, Delaware has one of the highest death sentencing rates in the country. This high rate appears to be the result of a change in the Delaware death sentencing scheme from jury to judge sentencing. When that change was implemented, the number of death sentences rose dramatically. Our preliminary findings also reveal a geographic effect. Two thirds of the death sentences were imposed in New Castle County, 29% were imposed in Kent County and only 5% of the death sentences resulted from murders which occurred in Sussex County. Finally, in analyzing the outcomes of the cases in which the defendant was sentenced to death on appeal, we found an overall error rate of 44%.
特拉华州死刑:一个实证研究
本文报告了特拉华州死刑问题三期实证研究第一阶段的调查结果。在第一阶段,我们只审查被告被判处死刑的案件。虽然我们的发现是初步的,但正如其他司法管辖区的许多其他研究发现的那样,似乎存在受害者种族影响。70%的死刑判决是针对白人受害者的,尽管大多数谋杀受害者是黑人。此外,特拉华州是全国死刑判决率最高的州之一。这一高比率似乎是特拉华州死刑判决制度从陪审团判决改为法官判决的结果。这一改变实施后,死刑判决的数量急剧上升。我们的初步研究结果还揭示了地理效应。三分之二的死刑判决是在纽卡斯尔县判处的,29%是在肯特县判处的,只有5%的死刑判决是由于发生在苏塞克斯县的谋杀。最后,在分析被告上诉后被判处死刑的案件结果时,我们发现总体错误率为44%。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
1.60
自引率
7.70%
发文量
1
期刊介绍: Since its inception in 1915 as the Iowa Law Bulletin, the Iowa Law Review has served as a scholarly legal journal, noting and analyzing developments in the law and suggesting future paths for the law to follow. Since 1935, students have edited and have managed the Law Review, which is published five times annually. The Law Review ranks high among the top “high impact” legal periodicals in the country, and its subscribers include legal practitioners and law libraries throughout the world.
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