When anticipating the imposition of the death penalty, jurors may be less inclined to convict
defendants. On the other hand, minority defendants have been shown to be treated more
punitively, particularly in capital cases. Given that the influence of anticipated sentence
severity on verdicts may vary as a function of defendant race, the goal of this study was to
test the independent and interactive effects of these factors. We conducted a survey-
embedded experiment with a nationally representative sample to examine the effect on …

When anticipating the administration of the death penalty, mock jurors may be less inclined
to convict defendants. Furthermore, minority defendants have been shown to be treated
more punitively. We conducted a survey-embedded experiment with a nationally
representative sample to examine the effect of sentence severity as a function of defendant
race, presenting respondents with a triple murder trial summary, manipulating the maximum
penalty (death vs. life without parole) and the race of the defendant. Respondents who were …