HRW: The Death Penalty in the U.S.A.: State Studies

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State Studies

Numerous states have commissioned studies of their penalty system. Journalists and nongovernmental organizations have also completed their own studies, looking at factors such as race. Most of these studies document racial and geographic disparities in the application of the death penalty in states across the nation, as well as serious problems with court-appointed lawyers and the appeals process. Many state studies have made recommendations to remedy these problems. Check here to see what legislation is being considered in these states.

updated on October 1, 2003

Governmental studies

Arizona

Capital Case Commission Interim Report (2001)
Prepared by Arizona Attorney General
http://www.attorneygeneral.state.az.us/law_enforcement/IntRpt.html

Connecticut (2003)

The Connecticut Commission on the Death Penalty
Commissioned by the Connecticut General Assembly
http://www.opm.state.ct.us/pdpd1/CDP/CDP-FinalReport.htm

Illinois (2002)

Report of the Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment
Commissioned by the Governor
http://www.idoc.state.il.us/ccp/ccp/reports/index.html

HRW’s Comments on…
http://hrw.org/press/2002/04/deathpenalty.htm

Maryland (2003)

An Empirical Analysis of Maryland’s Death Sentencing System With Respect to the Influence of Race and Legal Jurisdiction
Commissioned by the Governor
http://www.urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/finalrep.pdf.

HRW’s Comments on…
http://hrw.org/press/2003/01/us010703.htm

Nebraska (2001)

The Disposition of Nebraska Capital and Non-Capital Homicde Cases (1973-1999): A Legal and Empirical Analysis
Commissioned by the Nebraska Legislature
http://www.nol.org/home/crimecom/homicide/execsum.pdf

New Jersey (2001)

Report to the Supreme Court: Systemic Proportionality Review Project (2001)
“In neither method do we find evidence that race of defendant or race of victim impacts significantly upon death outcomes, whether we examine penalty trial cases only or all death eligible cases.”
“we cannot conclude here that the effect of race of victim on advance to penalty trial is consistent in our analyses.”
Commissioned by the New Jersey Supreme Court
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/baime/baimereport.pdf

Nevada (2002)

Work Session Document: Legislative Commission's Subcommittee to Study the Death Penalty and Related DNA Testing
Commissioned by state legislature
http://leg.state.nv.us/71st/interim/studies/deathpenalty/WorkSession/Work%20Session%20document%206-14-02.html

Nevada

Capital Punishment in New York State: Statistics from Six Years of Representation (2001)
Prepared by the New York Capital Defender Office
http://www.nycdo.org/6yr.html

North Carolina

Capital Punishment: Mentally Retarded and Race Basis (2001)
Prepared by the Legislative Research Commission
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/legislativestudies/legislativerese_/capitalpunishme/default.htm

Pennsylvania

Final Report of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System
Prepared by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
http://www.courts.state.pa.us/Index/Supreme/BiasCmte/FinalReport.pdf

Virginia (2002)

Review of Virginia’s System of Capital Punishment
Commissioned by General Assembly
http://jlarc.state.va.us/Meetings/December01/capital.pdf

Federal

The Federal Death Penalty System: A Statistical Survey (1988-2000) (2001)
U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.usdoj.gov/dag/pubdoc/dpsurvey.html

NGO/Media Studies

California

Series of California’s Death Penalty System (2002)
San Jose Mercury News
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Mercury-Mintz.html

Mississippi

Assembly Line Justice: Mississippi's Indigent Defense Crisis (2003)
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
http://www. naacpldf.org/whatsnew/Assembly_Line_Justice.pdf

North Carolina

Special Report on Representation of Death Row Inmates (2002)
Common Sense Foundation
http://www.common-sense.org/Publications/CommonSenseSays/DPSpecialReport2002.html

Race and the Death Penalty in North Carolina: An Empirical Analysis: 1993-1997 (2001)
The Common Sense Foundation
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/NCRaceRpt.html

Texas

“Lethal Indifference: The Fatal Combination of Incompetent Attorneys and Unaccountable Courts” (2002) and “A State of Denial: Texas Justice and the Death Penalty” (2001)
Texas Defender Service
http://www.texasdefender.org/publications.htm

“Muting Gideon’s Trumpet: A Report Received by the State Bar of Texas from the
Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters (200)
http://www.uta.edu/pols/moore/indigent/whitepaper.htm

Washington

ACLU of Washington (2000)
Sentenced to Death: A Report on Washington Supreme Court Rulings In Capital Cases
http://www.aclu-wa.org/ISSUES/criminal/Death.Penalty.Report.8.00.html

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