Seven men on death row in Connecticut are challenging the fairness of that state’s death penalty law. Although the death penalty is no longer on the books for any future cases, the law does not include the eleven men already convicted and sentenced to die before the new law took effect.
According to Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) , “The inmates will principally rely on a study by Stanford University professor John Donohue, who reviewed nearly 4,700 murders in the state from 1973 to 2007. The study found that minority defendants whose victims were white were three times more likely to receive a death sentence than white defendants whose victims were white. Professor Donahue also found disparities along geographic lines. For example, death penalty-eligible defendants in Waterbury, Connecticut were sentenced to death at much higher rates than similar defendants elsewhere in the state. The study concluded, “A comprehensive assessment of this process ... reveals a troubling picture. Overall, the state's record of handling death-eligible cases represents a chaotic and unsound criminal justice policy that serves neither deterrence nor retribution.”
The DPIC further stated, “The Of the 11 men who were on Connecticut’s death row when the death penalty was abolished, 6 were black, 4 were white and 1 was Hispanic. Of their 15 victims, 10 were white, 4 were black and 1 was Hispanic. “
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