Matthew White

Ms. Knight

AP Statistics

7 September 2016

Chapter 3 - Investigative Task

The Death Policy in the United States has always been a disputable topic. The ethnicity

of someone has unfairly been used as a variable when a person is facing a death penalty. The

Death Penalty Information Center published The Death Penalty in Black and White in 1998

releasing vital data that showed the correlation between the death sentences of black and white

defendants when there is a black or white victim. The data collected concerned 667 citizens of

murder convictions in Philadelphia courts between 1983 and 1993. The data revealed to us

consumers are essential information for deciphering if the death policy in Philadelphia is truly

unfair due to race.

All together the data shows that 12.3% (18 of 146) of white defendants were sentenced to

death. Black defendants received 18.6% (97 of 521) of convictions when facing a death sentence.

Black defendants showed an increasingly large amount compared to white defendants which

fuels the question on whether or not the death sentences were not color blind.

Black defendants were sentenced to death in 18% (76 of 433) of cases when there was a

black victim involved unlike white defendants which were only sentenced to death 4% (1 of 25)

of cases. Whenever a white victim was associated in a case the black defendants were sentenced

to death in 21% (21 of 99) of cases and whites defendants were sentenced 14% (18 of 146) of

cases.
 Defendants facing a white victim in a death sentence were high for each race- Blacks

21% and Whites 14% when they were sentenced to death. But when analyzing the death sentence

for each race pertaining a black victim, data revealed a drastic difference. A white defendant

(4%) was extremely less compared to a black defendant (18%) when sentenced to death from a

black victim. From this data a conclusion can be made that the city of Philadelphia is not color

blinded when rewarding justice to its citizens.

Death Sentences Black Victim White Victim Total

Black Defendant 18% 21% 18.60%
White Defendant 4% 14% 12.30%
Total 17% 17% 17%