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Mr. Drollette
AP Statistics
9 September 2016
Black Victim
White Victim
Total
Black Defendant
76 out of 422
21 out of 99
97 out of 521
White Defendant
1 out of 25
17 out of 121
18 out of 146
Total
77 out of 447
38 out of 220
Its rather difficult to draw any conclusions from the results of the original survey. Converting
the number of cases to relative frequency makes it much easier to analyze the data.
Death Sentences
Black Victim
White Victim
Total
Black Defendant
18.0%
21.2%
18.6%
White Defendant
4.0%
14.0%
12.3%
Total
17.2%
17.3%
17.2%
Out of the 146 white defendants convicted of murder in the study, 12.3% were sentenced to
death (18 out of the 146 defendants). Out of the 521 black defendants convicted of murder in the study,
18.6% were sentenced to death (97 out of the 521 defendants). There is a noticeable difference in the
rates of the application of the death penalty between black and white defendants. The segmented bar
chart in Figure 1 illustrates the difference in sentencing rates. The difference between the sentencing
rates suggests that there is an association between the race of the defendant and the likelihood of
receiving a sentence to death.
Figure 1
Percent of Convicts Sentenced to Death
Black Defendant
Non-Lethal Sentences
Death Sentences
White Defendant
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00% 100.00%
The difference in sentencing rates based on the race of the defendant is not the most pronounced
indication of an association between race and the death penalty, however. 14.1% of white defendants
(17 out of 121) were sentenced to death in cases with a white victim. 21.2% of black defendants were
sentenced to death in cases with a white victim (21 out of 99). In addition, 18.0% of black defendants
were sentenced to death in cases with a black victim (76 out of 422), whereas only 4.0% of white
defendants were sentenced to death in cases with a black victim (1 out of 25). The relative frequency
bar chart in Figure 2 clearly displays that death penalty rates for killing white people (21.2% for black
defendants and 14.1% for white defendants) are higher than they are for killing black people (18.0% for
black defendants and 4.0% for white defendants), regardless of the race of the defendant.
The 1998 study The Death Penalty in Black and White suggests that the legal system is not
colorblind when sentencing people to death, at least not in Philadelphia.
Figure 2
Percent of Convicts Sentenced to Death
25.00%
20.00%
White Defendant
Black Defendant
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Black Victim
Race of Victim
White Victim