# Should we just be philosophical about capital punishment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-just-be-philosophical-about-capital-punishment/456391 "2008-07-14T03:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 136
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-just-be-philosophical-about-capital-punishment/456391/136 "2008-07-18T15:13:59Z")
[QUOTE=villa] 1 in 67 (though I am sure you don’t agree it is that high) would be an unacceptable error rate too, don’t you agree? [/quote] I’ve been searching and searching for statistics on the number of general felony cases filed and the number that are later reversed or remanded on appeal; it appeared late yesterday that around 5% of felony convictions were later reversed or remanded, but having shut down when I left yesterday, I lost my links to the stats pages at the Bureau of Justice Statistics. I can probably find them again if you’re interested. In any case, if that’s accurate, then the reversal rate for capital cases is lower than the reversal rate in general, which to me indicates a higher level of accuracy (which isn’t surprising, given the higher amount of scrutiny such cases receive). And while I’m sure many here wouldn’t agree, the number of people released from death row is to me a positive indication that the checks built into the system function properly. > [@](#): > > Isn’t it true that there is a much stronger correlation between the race of the victim and the likelihood of the death penalty than between the race of the murderer and the use of execution? To the extent it is possible to argue that society values a white victim much higher? An interesting question that has some peculiar nuances. Indeed, it does appear from the statistics that the death penalty is more likely to be sought in cases where the murder victim is white. As we discussed earlier, blacks commit more than 50% of all murders. Also, most murders are not interracial; “from 1976 to 2005, 86% of white victims were killed by whites, and 94% of black victims were killed by blacks” ([BJS cite](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm)). Most interracial killings are “stranger homicides”, meaning that the victims didn’t know each other; in stranger homicides, blacks killed white victims about 17.5-21% of the time, while whites killed black victims 3.6-6.6% of the time. For acquaintance homicides, blacks kill white victims about 3.8-6.6% of the time, and whites kill black victims about 1.5-3.4% of the time ([cite](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/ovrelracetab.htm) for all this). At least a part of the disparity may be because juries are more likely to assess the death penalty in a stranger homicide case than in an acquaintance homicide case, and whites are the victims in over 60% of stranger homicides. But, that’s a guess, I’m not sure if that’s ever been studied. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-just-be-philosophical-about-capital-punishment/456391)._