I pick on the Carolinas only because evidence of racial disparity is so fresh there, thanks to The Charlotte Observer, which disclosed the difference in treatment last week. But other death penalty states show in a similar fashion that they prize white life over black.

Consider: Half of the nation's murder victims since 1976 have been white; yet, four-fifths of all the victims of death row inmates in that time frame have been white, as notes the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the punishment.

Of course the color line shows up on death row. After all, the line traverses all facets of American life: banking, employment, entertainment, religion, medicine, housing, education. Why would it skip over executions? The other day in Washington, Janet Reno sounded as if she had half-expected that, unlike at the state level, federal executions had escaped the pull of race. The attorney general found herself "sorely troubled" by her department's findings to the contrary. She vowed to locate the source of the color line on federal death row.

The Justice Department does go to some pains to avoid bias, notes the report Reno unveiled. Washington officials pondering whether to proceed with the death penalty don't learn the race of the defendant. In some large offices, even the local U.S. attorney purposely stays in the dark on that question.

Still, of every 20 defendants for whom Justice has sought death since 1995, 15 have been of color. The funny thing is that the anti-bias protocol may nonetheless be working. Of every 20 defendants Justice considered for capital punishment, 16 have been of color. In other words, the review process trims the share of defendants of color on the train to death row.

Trouble is, bias had already worked its mischief. Prejudice may have influenced the decision to make a federal case of a murder. Keep in mind that homicide ordinarily falls under the purview of state authorities.

For some reason, the homicide cases that wind up in the federal system lopsidedly entail defendants of color. True, non-whites do commit proportionately more murders than do whites - but not to the extent suggested by the racial makeup of federal defendants. The federal death row is more racially out of whack than even those of the states.

Back in North and South Carolina, four of every 10 murder victims over the past decade have been white. Yet, seven of every 10 victims of death row inmates are white.

Meanwhile, Reno's report shows that the feds are clean on that score - that is, once cases come into the system. The feds treat accused killers of people of color just as harshly as alleged slayers of whites. Of course, the bias may have already taken place, in the decision to take up the case.

Reno pledged justice for all: "We must ensure that all defendants who come into our system are treated in a fair and just manner. We must do all we can in the federal government to root out bias at every step."

Her agency seems to take that goal seriously. But how do you wall bias out in America?

Reno herself acknowledges that the racial disparity in homicides may reflect that "our system, our society, is not fair to a large number of minority children . . . who do not have equal opportunities."

From cradle to grave, people of color draw cards from a deck stacked against them. They are more likely than whites to grow up poor, for instance.

Even when sharing characteristics with whites, people of color have comparative trouble getting ahead. For instance, blacks have more problems getting a loan than whites of equal income and creditworthiness. Renters of color run into more trouble obtaining apartments than whites with similar traits. Drug users of color are more likely to wind up in jail than whites with similar habits.

No safeguards can keep society's pervasive bias off of even federal death row - no safeguards but one, that is: eradicating capital punishment.

Gregory Stanford is a Journal Sentinel editorial writer and columnist.

© Copyright 2000, Journal Sentinel Inc

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