Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Challenging Death Qualification and the Death Penalty in Kansas (Kansas v. Fielder)
Every person accused of a crime is entitled to a jury of their peers that represents a fair cross section of their community. But that is never the reality for Black and brown people facing the death penalty. A process called death qualification excludes people from capital juries if they do not believe in the death penalty. Death qualification rigs juries to be whiter and more likely to convict. It discriminates against Black prospective jurors, women, and people of individual faiths that oppose capital punishment.
Our fight against death qualification is just one piece of our upcoming challenge to Kansas’ use of the death penalty. The ACLU, together with the law firms Hogan Lovells and Ali & Lockwood, Democracy Forward, and the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services’ Death Penalty Defense Unit is putting the death penalty on trial in Kansas in a series of hearings beginning in October.
Status: Ongoing
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11 Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty Cases
Kansas
Feb 2024
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Kansas v. Kyle Young
If the death penalty is racist, arbitrary and serves no valid penological purpose, does it violate the Kansas Constitution?
The ACLU, together with the ACLU of Kansas and law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP, challenged the Kansas death penalty statute under the Kansas Constitution and United States Constitution in the case of Kansas v. Kyle Young. Mr. Young is a Black man who faced a capital trial in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Prosecutors sought a death sentence. The Sedgwick County District Court held an unprecedented evidentiary hearing in February 2023.
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Kansas
Feb 2024
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Kansas v. Kyle Young
If the death penalty is racist, arbitrary and serves no valid penological purpose, does it violate the Kansas Constitution?
The ACLU, together with the ACLU of Kansas and law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP, challenged the Kansas death penalty statute under the Kansas Constitution and United States Constitution in the case of Kansas v. Kyle Young. Mr. Young is a Black man who faced a capital trial in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Prosecutors sought a death sentence. The Sedgwick County District Court held an unprecedented evidentiary hearing in February 2023.
North Carolina
Jun 2023
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
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North Carolina
Jun 2023
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Oct 2022
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
State of Florida v. Dennis Glover
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Oct 2022
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
State of Florida v. Dennis Glover
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2015
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Capital Punishment
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2015
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Capital Punishment
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.