Working Paper: NBER ID: w16981
Authors: Alberto F. Alesina; Eliana La Ferrara
Abstract: We propose a test of bias based upon patterns of judicial errors. We model the trial court as minimizing a weighted sum of type I and II errors. We define racial bias a situation where the weight depends on defendant/victim race. If the court is unbiased, the error rate should be independent of the combination defendant/victim race. We test this prediction using an original dataset on all capital appeals in 1973-1995. We find that in the first and last stage of appeal the probability of error is 3 and 9 percentage points higher for minority defendants who killed white (vs. minority) victims.
Keywords: racial bias; capital sentencing; judicial errors
JEL Codes: K42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Racial bias in capital sentencing (J15) | Higher error rates for minority defendants killing white victims (J15) |
| Defendant and victim races (J15) | Error rates in judicial decisions (K40) |
| Minority defendants with white victims (J15) | Higher error rate compared to minority defendants with non-white victims (J15) |
| Judicial process being unbiased (K40) | Error rate independent of combination of defendant and victim races (J79) |
| Higher courts do not make mistakes (K40) | Observed errors in lower courts attributed to bias (K40) |