Death Sentencing in East Baton Rouge Parish, 1990-2008

• Author: Glenn L. Pierce - Michael L. Radelet
• Position: Principal Research Scientist, Institute for Race and Justice and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. - Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado-Boulder.
• Pages: 647-673

Death Sentencing in East Baton Rouge Parish, 1990–

2008

Glenn L. Pierce

Michael L. Radelet

In this Article we report the results of a research project that

was designed to assess if certain non-legal variables, specifically

the races of the defendant or victim, are associated with the

imposition of the death penalty in East Baton Rouge Parish,

Louisiana. To do so we examined all cases in the Parish that at any

time were charged as first-degree murders over a 19-year period

from 1990 to 2008.

Although most states in the United States are divided into

counties, the State of Louisiana is divided into 64 ―parishes.‖ With

an estimated population in 2000 of 412,852 residents spread across

472 square miles, East Baton Rouge Parish has the third largest

population of the Louisiana parishes, behind Orleans Parish and

Jefferson Parish.

1

It includes the State‘s capital city, Baton Rouge,

and two major universities, Southern University and Louisiana

State University. Standing alone, the city of Baton Rouge has

230,000 people living within 75 square miles.

2

According to the 2000 census, 56.2% of the parish population

classified themselves as white, 40.1% as black or African American,

2.1% as Asian, and 1.6% as ―other.‖

3

Hispanics or Latinos of any

Copyright 2011, by GLENN L. PIERCE & MICHAEL L. RADELET.

 Principal Research Scientist, Institute for Race and Justice and School

of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, Boston,

Massachusetts.

 Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado-Boulder.

The authors would like to thank Timothy Lyman for gathering the data on

homicides from East Baton Rouge Parish that are used in this study, and for his

invaluable comments on earlier drafts of t his Article. We also appreciate

computing assistance from Alan Saiz , statistical advice from Alan Agresti , and

research advice from Jane Thompson at the University of Colorado Wise Law

Library.

1

. There is also a West Baton Rouge Parish; its population is only 21,601.

Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish encompass the cit y of New Orleans and

most of its s uburbs. Louisiana Parishes and 2000 Census Total Population, LA.

DIVISION OF ADMIN., http://doa.louisiana.gov/census/2000/parish2000 poprank.

pdf (last visited Nov. 10, 2010).

2

. Our City-Par ish Government, E. BATON ROUGE CITY-PARISH GOV‘T,

http://brgov.com/aboutus.htm (last visited Nov. 10, 2010).

3

. East Baton Rouge Par ish, Louisiana —QT-PL. Race, Hispanic or

Latino, and Age: 2000, AM. FACTFINDER, http://fact finder.census.gov/servlet/

648 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 71

race constituted 1.8% of the population. By 2009 the white

population had fallen to 51.9% of the population, with blacks

increasing to 44.4% and Hispanics increasing to 3.1%.

4

In 2009 there were 86 homicides in the parish,

5

and as of

October of that year, only half of them had not been solved.

6

In the

city of Baton Rouge alone, there were 75 homicides, the highest

annual number on record, surpassing the 1993 total of 74.

7

The

total number of homicides in the Parish for the past six years (with

the number in the city of Baton Rouge alone in parentheses) is:

2009 86 (75)

2008 85 (67)

2007 92 (72)

2006 72 (56)

2005 59 (49)

2004 60 (47)

8

In one recent 11-year period, 1991–2001, there were 878

homicides in East Baton Rouge Parish, or an average of 79.8

homicides per year.

9

This ranged from a peak in 1993, when 99

deaths were recorded, to 2001, when 62 were recorded.

10

Males

were 79.9% and blacks were 82.8% of the homicide victims over

this time span.

11

QTTable?_bm=n&_lang=en&qr_name=DEC_2000_PL_U_QTPL&ds_name=D

EC_2000_PL_U&geo_id=05000US22033 (last visited Nov. 10, 2010) .

4

. East Baton Rouge Pa rish QuickFacts, ST. & COUNTY QUICKFACTS,

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22033.html (last visited Nov. 10, 2010).

5

. Kimberly Vetter, 75 Murders in ’09 Sets BR Record, ADVOCATE (Baton

Rouge, La.), Jan. 9, 2010, at 1A [hereinafter Vetter, 75 Murder s], availa ble at

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/81055412.html?showAll=y&c=y; Kimberly

Vetter, East Baton Rouge Pa rish Homicides in 2009, ADVOCATE (Baton Rouge,

La.), Jan. 24, 2010, at 6A, a vailable at http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/

82540347.html.

6

. Chris Nakamoto, Ha lf of Murder s in Baton Rouge ar e Unsolved, WBRZ

NEWS (Dec. 2 2, 2009, 5:41 PM), http://www.wbrz.com/news/half -of-murders-

in-baton-rouge-are-unsolved/.

7

. Vetter, 75 Murder s, supra note 5.

8

. Id. For crime statistics for the City of Baton Rouge from 1999 to 2009,

see Baton Rouge Cr ime Statistics, BATON ROUGE POLICE DEP‘T,

http://brgov.com/dept/brpd/csr/ (last visited Nov. 10, 2010).

9

. Gina Ann Dimattia, Analysis of Death T rends in Coroner Cases in East

Baton Rouge Parish from January 1, 1991, to December 31, 2001, at 71 (Aug.

2002) (unpubli shed M. A. thesis, Depar tment of Geograp hy and Anthropolo gy,

Louisiana State University), a vailable at http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-

0611102-141208/unrestricted/Dimattia_thesis.pdf.

10

. Id. at 72.

11

. Id. at 71.