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CounterPunch
August
13/19, 2002
Racism is Alive
and Well in the
South Carolina Death House
by Wendy Brinker
Anthony "Tony" Green is a 38-year old
African American man who is scheduled to be executed by the state
of South Carolina on August 23, 2002. He was convicted and sentenced
to death in 1987 for the botched robbery and murder of Susan
Babich in Charleston County. So why should you care what happens
to Anthony Green?
You should care because at the time of
Tony's trial in 1988, Charlie Condon, the Charleston County Solicitor
who declared he would prefer an electric sofa as opposed to the
electric chair, pursued the death penalty in an alarmingly racist
manner. He sought the death penalty in 40% of the cases where
the defendant was African-American and the victim was white compared
to only 2.9% of the cases where the defendant and the victim
were both African-American. Likewise, the office pursued the
death penalty in 32.3% of all cases where the victim was white,
but only 5.2% of the time when the victim was black. In Charleston
County, the state was fourteen times more likely to seek the
death penalty in a case involving a black defendant if the victim
was white. Such racial bias in the imposition of the death penalty
means that regardless of the circumstances surrounding Tony's
case, his race and the race of his victim were determining factors
in the state's decision to seek death and the jury's willingness
to impose it.
Thirteen of twenty cases in which the
Condon sought the death penalty between 1977 and 1990 involved
African-American or minority defendants. It is implausible to
believe that this pattern would emerge if race-neutral criteria
were used by the prosecutor to determine when to seek the death
penalty. Evidence from numerous studies demonstrates that this
pattern of racial bias in the imposition of the death penalty
is disturbingly consistent throughout South Carolina.
In South Carolina, African-American defendants
who kill whites are sentenced to death at approximately 3 times
the rate of whites that kill whites. There is a huge discrepancy
between the sentences the state seeks when the victim is African-American
and when the victim is white. Even though most murder victims
in South Carolina are African-American, only .46% of African-American
victim cases result in death sentences, compared to the 3.4%
of white victim cases resulting in the death penalty. In South
Carolina a person charged with killing someone white is 8 times
more likely to be sentenced to death than a person charged with
killing an African-American. More disturbingly, an African-American
charged with killing a white person is approximately 6 times
more likely to be sentenced to death.
Senseless, random violence is very difficult
to comprehend. Susan Babich was not the only victim here. She
was a daughter, sister, wife and mother. It is hard to imagine
the injustice her family must feel losing her in this manner.
It's hard to understand what possessed Tony that afternoon back
in 1987. People who knew him were shocked to hear of his arrest.
He had no prior arrests and by all accounts, was a good, well-mannered
kid with an impressive high school record and stellar performance
on his high school basketball team. However, at the time of the
shooting, he had developed a drug problem. It is understandable
for Susan's family to want revenge for her death, but revenge
is not what drives our judicial system. Everyone, even people
suspected of heinous crimes, are equal and entitled to certain
protections under the law. That is how we, as a society, prevent
further injustices from happening.
The fact that there are racial disparities
inherent in the judicial system doesn't come as a shock. Numbers
don't lie. In South Carolina, there are 3,855 black men per 100,000
in prison, compared to the rate for white men which are 588 per
100,000. Blacks are admitted to prison on drug charges at a rate
that is 13.4 times greater than that of white men. Although blacks
only comprise 30% of the population in South Carolina, 70% of
our prison population is black. Blacks comprise an overwhelming
86% of the drug offenders in our state prisons. Race plays a
dominant role in the courtrooms across our state. But by the
very laws that are designed to protect us, it cannot continue
to play a factor in the most profound decision a government can
make - who lives and who dies.
While it may be difficult for us to view
Tony Green as a victim as he awaits execution by lethal injection
on the 23rd of this month, it should not be difficult to see
the statistical patterns emerging as we delve into the race disparities
and institutionalized racism present in capital sentencing. Tony's
lawyers have petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights to review his sentence. As a member of the Organization
of American states and signatory to three key human rights treaties,
Tony's lawyers argue that the United States is bound by the rulings
of the IAHRC. The IAHRC has issued precautionary measures to
the United States not to carry out Tony's execution but it will
be several months before the commission is able to perform a
complete investigation. Because of the delay, Tony's lawyers
have asked the S.C. Supreme Court to stay his execution. They
have also asked Governor Jim Hodges to grant Green a reprieve
to give the IACHR enough time to rule in his case. We, as a civilized
society, must insist that this happen. When the system fails
to protect one of us, the system has failed us all.
Wendy Brinker
is Project Coordinator for the
South Carolina Equal Justice Alliance in Columbia, South
Carolina.
She can be reached at: maat156@earthlink.net
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August 14
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