Race, sex, and age disparities in death penalty sentencing: a systematic review

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.

Keywords:

• Capital punishment
• death penalty sentencing
• intersectionality
• race
• systematic review

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)