The Impact of Race, Gender, and Geography on Florida Executions

 72% of all executions carried out in Florida between 1976 and 2014 were for crimes involving White victims despite the fact that 56% of all homicide victims are White.  Only 26% of all homicide victims are female, but 43% of all executions carried out in Florida were for homicides involving female victims.  Homicides involving White female victims are 6.5 times more likely to result in an execution than homicides in involving Black male victims.  No White person has been executed in Florida for a homicide involving a Black victim. In contrast, 71% of the executions carried out against Black inmates were for homicides involving White victims. In cases where Black inmates were executed, 56% of all of the victims were White.  Just six out of Florida’s 67 counties are responsible for more than half of the state’s 89 executions.  Only four counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Duval, and Pinellas) have produced more than five executions. More than half of all Florida counties (36) have never produced an execution.  Seven Florida counties (Bradford, Wakulla, Santa Rosa, Madison, Colombia, Lake, and Hernando) have execution rates that are more than triple the state’s average execution rate of .30 executions per 100 homicides.  The homicide rate in counties that have produced no executions (1.11 homicides per 1,000 population) is significantly lower than the homicide rate in counties that have produced executions (1.62 homicides per 1,000 population).