An assessment of racial and legal-competency factors inherent in the administration of the death penalty in North Carolina.

摘要

Despite efforts to devise policies and procedures to support the fair and consistent application of the death penalty in North Carolina towards all perpetrators of a capital crime regardless of race, the process remains fraught with arbitrariness, discrimination and error. This study will explore North Carolina's male death row population between July 30, 1979 and July 30, 2003 to determine whether racial and legal-competency factors have any impact on a jury's sentencing decision. A non experimental research approach derived from a causal-comparative research design has been chosen to analyze the data gathered to determine if there is a statistical significance difference between African American offenders receiving the death penalty in comparison to White American offenders, due to possible inadequate legal representation.