This panel focuses on questions surrounding the influence of race and ethnicity on the imposition of capital punishment. The Supreme Court struck down unitary standardless capital punishment statutes in the early 1970s. Only a few years later the Court upheld two forms of bifurcated, more structured death penalty statutes relying in part on an assumption that the narrowing required by such statutes would eliminate the influence of racial bias. None of the cases considered the possibility of racial bias against any group other than African Americans. This panel examines the evidence that racial and ethnic bias continues to influence the imposition of the death penalty under modern statutes. Moderator: Devon Carbado, UCLA and Harry Pregerson, UCLA Schoolof Law; Sheri Lynn Johnson,Cornell Law School; Martin Urbina, Sul Ross State University; Catherine Grosso, Michigan State University College of Law.

Series: "UCLA Law Review Symposium " [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 34540]