Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Kansas v. Kyle Young
If the death penalty is racist, arbitrary and serves no valid penological purpose, does it violate the Kansas Constitution?
The ACLU, together with the ACLU of Kansas and law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP, challenged the Kansas death penalty statute under the Kansas Constitution and United States Constitution in the case of Kansas v. Kyle Young. Mr. Young is a Black man who faced a capital trial in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Prosecutors sought a death sentence. The Sedgwick County District Court held an unprecedented evidentiary hearing in February 2023.
Status: Closed
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10 Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty Cases
North Carolina
Jun 2023
![Hasson Bacote posing in a football jersey.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/07/Bacote-life-photos-TrFi-11535-11552-13-600x412.jpg)
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Status: Ongoing
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![Hasson Bacote posing in a football jersey.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/07/Bacote-life-photos-TrFi-11535-11552-13-600x412.jpg)
North Carolina
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Jun 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Oct 2022
![A photo of Dennis Glover](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/DennisG-600x389.png)
State of Florida v. Dennis Glover
Status: Ongoing
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![A photo of Dennis Glover](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/DennisG-600x389.png)
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
State of Florida v. Dennis Glover
Oct 2022
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2015
![Spradley v. State of Alabama](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.
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![Spradley v. State of Alabama](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
U.S. Supreme Court
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Capital Punishment
Spradley v. State of Alabama
Montez Spradley, who was sentenced to death in Alabama for a 2004 murder he did not commit, was released from prison in September 2015. He had spent 9.5 years behind bars, 3.5 years of them on death row. He is 32 years old.
Sep 2015
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Jun 2015
![North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
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![North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Racial Disparities and the Death Penalty
Racial Justice
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
Jun 2015
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