Death Sentences Linked to History of Lynching in States
Untitled Document: "Death Sentences Linked to History of Lynching in States
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- States that sentence the most criminals to death also tend to be the states that had the most lynchings in the past, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that the number of death sentences for all criminals -- black and white -- were higher in states with a history of lynchings. But the link was even stronger when only black death sentences were analyzed.
The results may be shocking to many people, but they aren't surprising to sociologists who study the racial aspects of the death penalty, said David Jacobs, co-author of the study and professor of sociology at Ohio State University.
'Our results suggest that the death penalty has become a sort of legal replacement for the lynchings in the past,' Jacobs said. 'This hasn't been done overtly, and probably no one has consciously made such a decision. But the results show a clear connection.'
Another study finding reinforces this idea. Results showed that the number of death sentences in states with the most lynchings increased as the state's population of African Americans grew larger, at least to a certain point. The researchers believe that is because, as their numbers increase, blacks are seen by the white majority as a growing threat.
Jacobs conducted the study with Jason Carmichael, a graduate student at Ohio State, and Stephanie Kent, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Their results were published in the most recent issue of the American Sociological Review.
For the study, the researchers examined the number of death sentences handed down in each of the mainland 48 states in 1971-72, 1981-82 and 1991-92. They computed lynching rates with data on state lynchings from 1889 to 1931 provided by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People."
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- States that sentence the most criminals to death also tend to be the states that had the most lynchings in the past, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that the number of death sentences for all criminals -- black and white -- were higher in states with a history of lynchings. But the link was even stronger when only black death sentences were analyzed.
The results may be shocking to many people, but they aren't surprising to sociologists who study the racial aspects of the death penalty, said David Jacobs, co-author of the study and professor of sociology at Ohio State University.
'Our results suggest that the death penalty has become a sort of legal replacement for the lynchings in the past,' Jacobs said. 'This hasn't been done overtly, and probably no one has consciously made such a decision. But the results show a clear connection.'
Another study finding reinforces this idea. Results showed that the number of death sentences in states with the most lynchings increased as the state's population of African Americans grew larger, at least to a certain point. The researchers believe that is because, as their numbers increase, blacks are seen by the white majority as a growing threat.
Jacobs conducted the study with Jason Carmichael, a graduate student at Ohio State, and Stephanie Kent, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Their results were published in the most recent issue of the American Sociological Review.
For the study, the researchers examined the number of death sentences handed down in each of the mainland 48 states in 1971-72, 1981-82 and 1991-92. They computed lynching rates with data on state lynchings from 1889 to 1931 provided by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People."
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