Mapping the Racial Bias of the White Male Capital Juror: Jury Composition and the 'Empathic Divide'

Abstract

This paper examines, in depth, the interactions between race and gender of juror and race of defendant in a simulated capital penalty-phase trial setting where participants were assigned to small group juries. As we have reported earlier (Lynch and Haney, 2009), white men mock jurors, as a group, were significantly influenced by race of defendant in making their capital sentencing decisions, in contrast to women and non-white mock jurors. Using quantitative data collected from our participants, we examine the white, male jurors’ evaluation of the case evidence and perceptions of the defendant to provide a fuller account of how their responses differ as a function of the race of defendant in the case.

Keywords: death penalty, jury decision-making, race, experiment