Policy Record
McCleskey v. Kemp
The Supreme Court rejected an equal-protection and Eighth Amendment challenge to Georgia's death penalty despite statistical evidence of racial disparities, requiring proof of intentional discrimination in the individual case.
Plain-language summary
What happened and why it matters
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What happened
The Supreme Court rejected an equal-protection and Eighth Amendment challenge to Georgia's death penalty despite statistical evidence of racial disparities, requiring proof of intentional discrimination in the individual case.
Why it matters
EquityStack classifies this policy as negative impact with limited supporting evidence. The record matters because it helps explain how government action shaped Black Americans' rights, resources, exposure to harm, or access to institutions.
What this means
Impact on Black Americans
The ruling made it substantially harder to use systemic statistical evidence to challenge racial disparities in criminal punishment.
1987
The Supreme Court rejected an equal-protection and Eighth Amendment challenge to Georgia's death penalty despite statistical evidence of racial disparities, requiring proof of intentional discrimination in the individual case.
Outcome
The ruling made it substantially harder to use systemic statistical evidence to challenge racial disparities in criminal punishment.
1987-04-22T07:00:00.000Z
Latest source linked to this policy record.
Era context
Previous era-adjacent record: Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.
Trust and evidence
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Sources
1
Source Quality
Limited
Completeness
Needs Review
Evidence
Source trail
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