Death Sentencing in East Baton Rouge Parish, 1990-2008

AuthorGlenn L. Pierce - Michael L. Radelet
PositionPrincipal 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.
Pages647-673
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 GOVT,
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, 19912001, 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 DEPT,
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.

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