McCleskey v. Kemp

Week 12 — Discriminatory Purpose vs. Effect

Facts

  • McCleskey, a Black man, was sentenced to death in Georgia after murdering a police officer during an armed robbery (with two aggravating circumstances present).
  • He claimed his sentence violated the Equal Protection Clause, pointing to the Baldus Study, which showed that Black defendants were significantly more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants.

Issue

Whether statistical evidence of system-wide racial disparities in capital sentencing, without proof of discriminatory purpose in the defendant's specific case, establishes an Equal Protection violation.

Holding

No. The statistical evidence was insufficient to show purposeful discrimination against McCleskey.

Reasoning

  • A claimant must prove the existence of purposeful discrimination and that it had a discriminatory effect specifically on him.
  • The effect of purposeful discrimination cannot be general in nature; there must be a nexus between the discrimination and the individual effect on the claimant.
  • Without evidence of purposeful discrimination, the Court will not second-guess a jury or a prosecutor's discretionary decisions—those are fundamental to the judicial process.

Notes

  • McCleskey applies the Washington v. Davis framework to judicial discretion.
  • Statistical evidence of system-wide disparity, no matter how stark, does not by itself establish individual purposeful discrimination.