A Test of Racial Bias in Capital Sentencing
通过分析美国死刑案件的上诉反转率，发现杀害白人的少数族裔被告在直接上诉和人身保护令案件中分别有3和9个百分点的更高反转率，表明存在种族偏见，且该偏见局限于南方各州。
We collect a new dataset on capital punishment in the United States and we propose a test of racial bias based upon patterns of sentence reversals. We model the courts as minimizing type I and II errors. If trial courts were unbiased, conditional on defendant's race the error rate should be independent of the victim's race. Instead we uncover 3 and 9 percentage points higher reversal rates in direct appeal and habeas corpus cases, respectively, against minority defendants who killed whites. The pattern for white defendants is opposite but not statistically significant. This bias is confined to Southern states.