Death Row Demographics Reveal Stark Racial Disparities

Throughout the 1990s, the Death Penalty Information Center documented that Black defendants were significantly more likely to receive death sentences, particularly when victims were white. By 1999, over 40% of death row inmates were Black while Black Americans represented 12% of the population. The Supreme Court had rejected systemic discrimination claims in McCleskey v. Kemp (1987); advocacy groups continued documenting case-by-case disparities.