Baldus Case

The Baldus study itself was a combination of two studies. Both studies reviewed over 2,000 cases in the state of Georgia during the 1970’s. The study’s main focus was to evaluate the influence of racial factors in the death sentencing phase. In most aspects of the study, the findings were not surprising except for one outcome. The study concluded that there was a racial disparity in the sentencing process. The biggest disparity that was found was when a death penalty case involved a white victim and a black defendant. After reviewing the death penalty cases, there was an indication that “twenty-two percent of cases received the death penalty when a black defendant and white victim were involved….compared to only three percent when there was a black victim and white defendant involved.” The study broke this data down further and looked at the percentages of when a prosecutor seeks the death penalty. The study found that prosecutors sought the death penalty in “seventy percent of cases that involved white victims and black defendants and only nineteen percent when the roles were reversed.” However, despite all of the racial disparities found, there was one conclusion that was quite surprising and contradicting. The figures from the cases reviewed suggested that there is a reverse racial disparity in the sentencing process. After

So when they received the McCleskey v. Kemp case for review, they were asked to answer the constitutional question of whether or not the statistical study provided proved that the death penalty was imposed due to the plaintiff’s race and his victim’s race. In a 5-4 decision the Court ruled that McCleskey’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were not violated and that the study did not prove that racial considerations were present. Along with the ruling the majority of the court provided their analysis of the