3. Texas
1st in Executions
Nationally
Executions since 1976:
542
Executions 1608-1976:
744
13 exonerations since
1976
3rd Largest Death Row
Population
Louisiana
13th in Executions
Nationally
Executions since 1976: 28
Executions 1608-1976:
632
11 exonerations since
1976
10th Largest Death Row
population
THE BASICS: TEXAS VS. LOUISIANA,
NEIGHBORING STATES
4. Texas has executed approximately 19.5 times more people
than Louisiana since 1976. This disparity CANNOT be
explained by crime or murder rates.
TEXAS VS. LOUISIANA CRIME RATES
Texas Lousiana
Murder
Rates in
2016
7.7 17.5
0
5
10
15
20
MurderRate
Texas and Louisiana Murder
Rates in 2016 In 2016, the murder rate in
Texas was 7.7, while
Louisiana’s murder rate
was 17.7. From 2016 to
present, the state of
Louisiana has executed 0
people, while Texas has
executed 11 people.
5. Crime rates and rates of execution between the two states
become even more disparate when certain counties are
looked at individually.
TEXAS VS. LOUISIANA CRIME RATES
Houston, TX
New Orleans,
LA
2015 Murder
Rate
13.3 41.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
AxisTitle
2015 Murder Rate in Houston and
New Orleans
Harris County Texas, in
which Houston is
located, has alone
executed 126 people
since 1976. More than
any other state in the
United States. As
shown, murder rates in
Louisiana are actually
higher than murder
rates in Texas, so
“crime” is not an
applicable answer to the
disparities in execution.
6. Explanations for the disparities between execution rates
between Texas and Louisiana are intersectional, as well as
political and cultural. It’s more than geography!
Intersectionality: Describes overlapping social identities, especially
when related to systems of oppression or discrimination
Possible Explanations
Culture
Texans are known for their patriotism and pride in capital punishment. A
2012 poll showed that 73% of Texas votes supported the death penalty.
Politics
Elected public officials take on “tough on crime” stances in order to be
favored for re-election. During his tenure in Harris County, former District
Attorney Johhny Holmes sent more than 200 people to death row.
During Rick Perry’s term as Governor from 2001-2014, Texas executed
279 people. In 2000, Texas executed 40 people.
EXPLANATIONS FOR DISPARITIES IN
EXECUTION RATES
7. In Texas since 1976, Black people have comprised about 38%
of people executed, but make up only 12% of the state’s
population
Most of Texas’ executions are results from Urban cities, where
Black people and other minorities constitute a sizeable
population.
Houston alone accounts for ~23% of the state’s executions
A 2000 Study by the Texas Defender Service elucidated
presence of the race of the victim bias in Texas Capital
Punishment cases.
Though black males accounted for 25% of murder victims, their
murderers only accounted for 0.4% of prisoners executed.
White females accounted for 0.8% of murder victims, but their
murderers were accounted for 34.2% of all executions.
RACE AND ETHNICITY AFFECT CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT - TEXAS
8. Black people account for 32% of Louisiana’s population, but
65% of Louisiana’s death row.
61% of homicide victims in Louisiana are black males, but
only 3 of their killers have been executed since 1976.
The execution rates for inmates with White female victims is 48
times that of someone with a Black male victim, although since
1976, only 7% of homicide victims have been White females.
RACE AND ETHNICITY AFFECT THE DEATH
PENALTY- LOUISIANA
7%
61%
19%
12%
1%
Louisiana Homicides, 1976-2011
White Female Black Male
White Male Black Female
Other Race
47%
8%
32%
13%
Race and Gender of Victims,
Assiliants Executed, 1976-2015
White Female Black Male
White Male Black Female
Other
9. Influence of Race and Ethnicity
EXPLANATIONS FOR DISPARITIES IN
EXECUTION RATES
27%
44%
27%
2%
Texas Death Row
White Black Hispanic Other
43%
12%
38%
7%
Texas Population
Demographics
White Black
Hispanic/Latino Other
11. “Persuasion and Resistance: Race and Death Penalty in
America”
PEFFLEY AND HURWITZ, 2007
64.96
50
76.83
37.92
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
White Black
% of Respondents who Support the Death Penalty
% of Respondents who Support after being told Black people are discriminated against
12. Bump, Philip. “A Demographic Breakdown of Texas’ 500 Executions.” The Atlantic.
2013.
Baumgartner, Frank.”Race-Of-Victim Discrepancies in Homicides and Executions,
Louisiana, 1976-2015”. Loyola University of New Orleans Journal of Public Interest
Law. 2015.
“Crime Rate in Houston, TX”n.d. City-Data.Com.
Dieter, Richard C. “The 2% Death Penalty: How a Minority of Counties Produce Most
Death Cases at Enormous Costs to All.” Death Penalty Information Center, 2013, 4 .
DPIC.org
Grimm, Andy. “Study: Death Penalty Rare in Louisiana for killers who murder black
males.” NOLA Times. 2015.
Fernandez, Manny, and John Schwartz. “Confronted on Execution, Texas Proudly
Says It Kills Efficiently.” The New York Times, May 12, 2014.
Peffley, Mark. “Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in
America.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (4)2007: 1002.
Ramsey, Ross. “Poll: Texans Stand Behind Death Penalty.” The Texas Tribune, May
24, 2012.
Turner, Allan . “Former DA Ran Powerful Death -Penalty Machine.”Chron, July 25,
2007.
“Uniform Crime Reports.” New Orleans Police Department.
http://www.nola.gov/getattachment/NOPD/Crime-Data/Crime-Stats/Historic-Crime-
Trends_1985-2013.pdf/.
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