Abstract
Demographic factors can influence death penalty outcomes. This systematic review examines literature regarding intersectionality of race, sex, and age disparities in capital punishment sentencing. Three databases were searched with similar terms, yielding 1,258 articles for review. After evaluating the remaining articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles were included for the final review. Differences in outcomes were reported when evaluating the race, sex, and/or age of both the defendant and the victim. Most studies found disadvantaged death penalty sentencing outcomes for both minority defendants and minority victims. Implications for future research and policy decisions are discussed.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge Jason Cantone, JD, PhD, and Alejandro Leguízamo, PhD, for their thoughtful comments on a previous version of this manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)