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JUNE 18, 2001

When Attorney General John Ashcroft told Congress that a study his department completed proved there was no racial or ethnic bias in the death penalty, he left out some of the report's findings.

For instance, death penalty foes point out, he didn't note that minorities make up the overwhelming majority of federal death penalty convicts. He also did not say that federal authorities sought the death penalty in 80 percent of cases involving minorities while they only sought the same for 38 percent.

Reseachers, however, say that the statistics don't prove there is bias. They only prove the issue needs to be studied more, which the Department of Justice is planning to do.

Convicted drug kingpin Juan Raul Garza is scheduled to die today, the second federal execution in 38 years. President Bush yesterday denied his attempt to gain clemency.

The Supreme Court also rejected Garza's attempts to delay his execution.

Get the Story:
Death Penalty Foes Fault Justice Study (The Washington Post 6/19)
Garza Turned Down By High Court, Bush (The Washington Post 6/19)
Bush Rejects Clemency for Drug Lord Set to Die Today (The New York Times 6/19)
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Related Stories:
Texas Gov. vetoes death penalty bill (6/18)
DOJ to study racial bias in death penalty (6/14)
Ashcroft denies racial bias in executions (6/7)
Supreme Court overturns execution (6/5)
Group seeks moratorium on executions (6/4)
Supreme Court halts execution (4/17)
Supremes to take on execution case (3/27)
Big decisions await Ashcroft (2/20)