The death penalty continues to be biased against racial minorities to a considerable extent.
Since 1977, 80% of those on death row have been there for (alleged) murder of whites (even though racial minorities make up half of all homicide victims in the States). The colour of the victims is even clearer than the colour of the criminals as a pattern determining the application of capital punishment.
Since that same year, only six (6) whites have been executed for killing blacks. In fact, in Florida (according to a 1990 study), blacks killing whites are five times more likely to get the death penalty than are whites killing whites. In Texas, blacks killing whites are six times more likely to get the death penalty than whites killing whites. Similarly, in Maryland, a killer of a white is seven times more likely to get a death sentence than a killer of a black.
Where the victim is white, the killer is between 2.3 and 9 times (varying from state to state) more likely to receive a death sentence than when the victim is black, according to a 1980s study.
In California and in Texas, 60% of death row inmates belong to ethnic minorities. Since 1988, nine out of ten of the defendants in federal death penalty prosecutions have been black. And since 1900, three-quarters of those given death sentences for crimes they committed when under 18 were African-American.
A Mexican given a death sentence earlier this year was denied access to Mexican consular officials (which he was entitled to under international law); the Texan authorities made it clear that they did not care.