FLORIDA:
Expert claims Florida death sentences racially biased
One of the nation's premier experts on death penalty statistics says Florida and the 7th Judicial
Circuit are racially biased in administering death sentences.
University of Colorado Professor Michael Radelet says murder defendants in the 7th circuit are 16
times more likely to be sentenced to death when the victim is white than when the victim is black.
The circuit includes St. Johns, Volusia, Flagler and Putnam counties.
Statewide since 1979, 49 of the 57 executions have followed murders in which the victims were white,
he said. That includes 11 blacks executed for killing whites.
To date, no white person has been executed for the killing of a black person in Florida, he said.
Judicial officials discounted the study, saying the system is not racist and that statistics can be used
to say anything.
"Race is not in any way considered in our capital cases, or for that matter in any case, ranging from
high felonies to misdemeanors to juvenile court. Race is simply not an issue," said 7th Circuit State
Attorney John Tanner.
The state does not consider the race of the defendant or the victim when deciding to pursue the
death penalty, he said. The decision is based on the specifics of individual cases, and made with good
legal reason, he said.
According to Radelet, the state is in denial, and the numbers form patterns.
"Then when we look for explanations why those patterns exist, people are quiet. They're speechless.
They're in denial," Radelet said.
Radelet has studied death penalty cases in Florida between 1976 and the present. He was a
sociologist with the University of Florida, now with University of Colorado in Boulder. He undertook a
study about death sentences on behalf of the Florida Supreme Court's Racial and Ethnic Bias Study
Commission more than a decade ago. He published it in 1991 in the
Florida Law Review.
Since then, his works have been cited by various courts, including the U.S Supreme Court, and by the
governor of Illinois, who recently declared a moratorium on executions.
His look specifically into the 7th Judicial Circuit has gone unpublished because the audience was too
small, he said. He continues to track Florida cases.
Radelet said "there has been no significant increase or change in the pattern of sentencing for those
who kill whites."
His study was used recently by attorneys for death row resident Johnny L. Robinson. Robinson was
convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Beverly St. George in 1985. He is scheduled for
execution Feb. 4. Capital Collateral attorneys argued that racial bias in death sentencing was one of
several reasons for a new trial. Circuit Judge Robert Mathis denied the motion.
"Statistical evidence is always interesting, but unfortunately statistics can be developed to support
any hypothesis one wishes to support, " Mathis wrote.
An appeal of his ruling goes before the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday.<Study: Killers of whites
get death more often Radelet said the problem with racism in America today is that it is a "much less
overt, conscious use of derogatory terms and purposeful negative treatment by race."
"Instead, it's more subconscious. The people who do it aren't even conscious of it until they see
overall patterns like what we have in the 7th Judicial Circuit," Radelet said.
Since 1976 in the circuit, 40 % of 356 homicide victims have been black. But only 5.7 % of the
defendants sentenced to death killed black people, Radelet said.
Between 1980 and 1993, 104 people were convicted of first-degree murder in the 7th circuit, and 29
were sentenced to death. Of those, 26 were sentenced to death for killing white people; 1 was
sentenced to death for killing a black person. The other 2 killed Hispanics or Asians.
The trend continues to this day, Radelet said.
Senior Circuit Judge Richard Watson, who originally presided over the Robinson case in 1986, said he
didn't know if the statistics mean a lot.
"What you have to look at is what are the facts of the particular case. That's how you determine if the
death penalty is imposed in any of them," Watson said.
Former State Attorney Steve Alexander was an assistant state attorney when he prosecuted Robinson
in the 1980s. During the recent appeal, attorneys accused him of racism. He said their job was to
throw mud on the wall and see if any of it stuck.
"It's kind of tough when you're there on the firing line, and they're talking about you. But I felt all along
that this thing would resolve itself ... I was happy when the final order came out," Alexander said.
He declined to comment about Radelet's report because he hadn't read it. But he pointed out that 4 of
the 5 men sentenced to death in St. Johns County are white.
"It certainly looks like in St. Johns County we seem to be fairly well color-blind," he said.
Radelet said that whites remain more likely to be sentenced to death in any given homicide. This is
because whites make up a much higher percentage of the population than blacks. It makes white
people more likely to be murder victims. If a person was randomly shot, odds are
higher that he or she would be white, he said.
Nevertheless, the race of the victim has a strong impact on whether the death penalty is imposed,
Radelet said.
In Florida since 1979, 86 % of the 57 executions followed cases where a white victim was killed. 7
executions involved the killing of a black person, he said.
Senior Circuit Judge Stephen Boyles, a former state attorney, said grand juries decide what kind of
charge a defendant will face in court. That could be manslaughter, justifiable or excusable homicide,
or degrees of murder. Only 1st-degree murder cases are considered by the state attorney for the
death penalty.
"We don't choose victims. We don't choose defendants," Boyles said.
The grand juries, which include black people, do a good job, he said.
"If there was something sneaking into the system, sooner or later, they would see it,"
Boyles said.
Tanner said the decision to pursue the death penalty in the 7th circuit is ultimately his.
But he said he meets with six senior prosecutors to confer about a case before the decision is made.
Race is not discussed, he said.
"What I can say unequivocally and categorically is our office is not racially biased in any respect,"
Tanner said.
"Our bottom line is, 'Do the right thing,' " he added.
While testifying in the Robinson case, Radelet said no matter how an analyst restricts the sample of
death penalty cases, race still matters.
"The race of the defendant matters a little bit, but it pales in comparison with the very strong effect of
the race of the victim," Radelet said.
It's different in some places, such as the 4th Judicial Circuit, which covers Jacksonville.
In the 4th circuit, the disparities in death sentences regarding race of victim have "declined
precipitously" since the 1990s, he said.
Radelet's testimony was heard by Mathis in Robinson's case, though it was procedurally barred.
Radelet's information had been heard in a previous court. Radelet deferred to the judge's knowledge
about what was legally proper.
"But as a social scientist, I'd say, how come nobody's acknowledging the problem and doing
something about it? People are in denial," Radelet said.
Executions in Florida since 1979:
-Total executions: 57
-By murder victim: 49 of 57 executions involved convicts who killed white people.
-7 of 57 involved convicts who killed black people.
-1 execution involved a convict who killed a Latino person. By murder victim and defendant:
-36 executions involved both white victims and defendants.
-12 executions involved black defendants and white victims.
-7 executions involved black defendants and black victims.
-0 executions involved white defendants and black victims.
-1 execution involved a Native American defendant and a white victim.
-1 execution involved a Latino defendant and a Latino victim.
-- Compiled by Michael Radelet, University of Colorado
This article has been reproduced with the kind permission of Michael Radelet 2004
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