Arbitrary and Capricious:
Examining Racial Disparities in Harris County’s Pursuit of Death Sentences
Arbitrary and Capricious: Examining Racial Disparities in Harris County’s Pursuit of Death Sentences highlights egregious and persistent racial disparities in Harris County’s use of the death penalty. The release of TDS’s report coincided with the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in the Texas death penalty case Buck v. Davis. In Duane Buck’s trial, a Harris County District Attorney elicited testimony from an expert that Mr. Buck’s race—Black—made him more deserving of the death penalty. The Supreme Court ruled that Duane Buck’s 1997 trial in Harris County was tainted by this racist testimony and required reversal.
“Racism should play no part in how we administer justice in Harris County.”
Estelle Hebron-Jones
Director of Special Projects at TDS
Key Findings From The Report
- Harris County puts people of color to death at an astonishing rate: 20 of the last 21 people sentenced to death in Harris County have been people of color.
- Of the last 21 people sentenced to death in Harris County, 15 were Black men. Three of the Black men’s death sentences have been permanently overturned due to legal errors.
- There have been appellate or post-conviction briefs filed in 19 of the last 21 death penalty cases from Harris County. Of the 19 cases where briefs were filed, 17 have allegations that race influenced the trial or sentence in some way.
- These disturbing patterns of racial bias have continued during DA Kim Ogg’s tenure. While new death sentences have decreased significantly since DA Ogg took office in 2017, two thirds of the people against whom DA Ogg’s office has sought the death penalty are people of color.
- D.A. Ogg’s office also sought execution dates for two Black men during her tenure, both of whom had signs of intellectual disability and one of whom had a compelling claim of actual innocence.
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