The Social Geometry of Death: Social Structure and CapitalPunishment in Georgia, 1993 - 2000 Open Access
Thaxton, Sherod (2009)
Published
Abstract
The Social Geometry of Death: Social Structure and Capital Punishment in Georgia, 1993 -2000
By Sherod Thaxton
In 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its four year moratorium on executions after deciding the modified death penalty statutes introduced by Florida, Georgia, and Texas contained constitutionally acceptable safeguards to significantly reduce the rampant arbitrariness, capriciousness, and bias that previously plagued the capital punishment process in America. Nonetheless, empirical studies at both the state and federal levels conducted since the death penalty was reinstated have consistently discovered that the administration of capital punishment remains both highly inconsistent and discriminatory. Not only do researchers continue to find that the death penalty is not exclusively reserved for the most heinous murder cases, but also that race/ethnicity, gender, and geography significantly influence the likelihood that a defendant is charged with a capital offense and receives the death penalty. These studies have resulted in considerable debate among legal scholars as to why three decades of procedural reforms to the capital punishment process have failed to satisfactorily reduce the very problems that initially led the Court to invalidate existing death penalty statutes. In a departure from most death penalty analysts, this project argues that previous attempts to reform the capital punishment system have been largely unsuccessful because they do not adequately identify and explain the complex ways in which legally legitimate and illegitimate factors impact legal decision-making. Drawing heavily from the socio-legal and social control literatures, this study advances a theory of legal behavior operating solely at the sociological level to explain capital charging-and-sentencing patterns and tests hypotheses derived from the theory using recent death penalty data from Georgia.
Table of Contents
List of Tables List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Background on Capital Punishment in the United States 13 2.1 Early Colonial Period Through the Civil War 14 2.2 Post-Civil War Period Through the 1960s 20 2.3 The 1970s to the Present 32 Chapter 3: Social Science and the Debate Over Capital Punishment 71 3.1 Major Issues Surrounding the Death Penalty 71 3.1.1 Deterrence 71 3.1.2 Incapacitation 77 3.1.3 Cost/Expense 79 3.1.4 Wrongful Convictions/Error Rates 81 3.1.5 Retribution 88 Chapter 4: Extra-Legal Factors and the Death Penalty 92 4.1 Background on Race and the Law in the United States 92 4.1.1 Early Colonial Period through the Civil War 92 4.1.2 Post Civil War Period through the 1960s 95 4.1.3 The 1970s to the Present 101 4.2 Research on Extra-Legal Factors and Capital Punishment 108 4.2.1 Pre-Furman Empirical Studies 108 4.2.2 Post-Furman Empirical Studies 114 4.2.3 Race and the Federal and Military Death Penalty 126 Chapter 5: Georgia and the Death Penalty 136 5.1 Executions in the South, 1608 - 2008 136 5.1.1 Executions in Georgia, 1735 - 2008 137 5.1.2 Race and Executions in Georgia, 1774 - 2008 139 5.2 Georgia and the Modern Death Penalty 142 5.2.1 Landmark Georgia Death Penalty Cases 142 5.2.2 Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Region, and Georgia's Death Penalty 155 5.2.3 Miscarriages of Justice: Innocence and Prejudicial Error 158 5.2.4 Life Without the Possibility of Parole 161 5.3 Summary 165 Chapter 6: Presentation and Evaluation of Theoretical Perspectives 173 6.1 Dominant Theoretical Perspectives 176 6.1.1 Scientific Criteria of Evaluation 176 6.1.2 Description of Dominant Perspectives 184 6.1.3 Evaluation of Dominant Perspectives 188 6.2 The Blackian Paradigm 208 6.2.1 Assumptions of the Blackian Paradigm 208 6.2.2 Description of Black's Theory of Law 216 6.2.3 Evaluation of the Blackian Paradigm 232 6.2.4 The Conceptualization of Race in the Blackian Paradigm 242 6.2.5 Evaluation of Black's Theory of Law 260 6.3 Research Hypotheses 287 6.3.1 Hypothesis One 289 6.3.2 Hypothesis Two 290 6.3.3 Hypothesis Three 291 6.3.4 Hypothesis Four 292 6.3.5 Hypothesis Five 293 6.3.6 Hypothesis Six 296 6.3.7 Hypothesis Seven 297 6.3.8 Hypothesis Eight 298 6.3.9 Summary 300 6.4 A Comment on Verification, Falsification, and Corroboration 301 Chapter 7: Data and Analytical Approach 304 7.1 Data Collection 304 7.1.1 Years Considered 304 7.1.2 Decision Stages Examined 305 7.1.3 Data Sources 306 7.2 Analytical Approach 320 7.2.1 Culpability Measures 320 7.2.2 Multilevel Regression Models 327 7.2.3 Missing Data and Selection Bias Issues 333 7.3 Summary 344 Chapter 8: Results 347 8.1 Preliminary Matters 347 8.1.1 Multiple Imputation 347 8.1.2 Statistical Inference and Parameter Interpretation 348 8.1.3 Death Eligibility 350 8.2 Model Specifications 352 8.3 Assessment of Hypotheses 356 8.3.1 Hypothesis One 357 8.3.2 Hypothesis Two 359 8.3.3 Hypothesis Three 362 8.3.4 Hypothesis Four 363 8.3.5 Hypothesis Five 366 8.3.6 Hypothesis Six 371 8.3.7 Hypothesis Seven 373 8.3.8 Hypothesis Eight 374 8.4 Specification Checks 377 8.5 Summary 384 Chapter 9: Summary and Discussion 387 9.1 Conclusion 408 References 412 Cases 504 Appendix A: Progression of Georgia Death Penalty Case 531 Appendix B: Variable Definitions 532 Appendix C: Random Intercept Logistic Regression Models (Null & Partial) 535 Appendix D: Supplemental Analyses (Partial & Plea Bargaining Models) 536 Appendix E: Supplemental Analyses (Pooled Estimates) 538
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