John Roman
Senior Fellow At NORC, University Of Chicago
Key Findings
- Of homicides between 2005 and 2010 in the FBI’s homicide report, only 2.57 percent of the homicides were ruled as justified.
- White-on-Black homicides were the most likely to be ruled as justified (11.4 percent) while Black-on-White homicide was least likely to be ruled as justified (1.2 percent).
- The impact of race in SYG situations was found to be statistically significant to the homicide being ruled justifiable.
- Homicides were more likely to be justified in SYG situations for White-on-Black, Black-on-Black, and White-on-White cases.
- The likelihood of a justifiable ruling increased by six times when there was a single victim, a single shooter, both victim and offender were male and if they had no previous connection, and a firearm was used.
- The odds that a White-on-Black homicide was ruled justifiable is 281 percent higher than the odds that a White-on-White homicide is ruled justifiable but Black-on-White homicides have half the chance of being ruled justifiable than White-on-White homicides.
- Black-on-Black homicides statistically have the same chance of being ruled justifiable as White-on-White homicides do.
- Being an older offender, having a female victim, having no relation to the victim, and using a firearm statistically increase chances of a justified ruling.
- Being a younger or male offender, having multiple or older victims statistically decrease the chances of a justified ruling.
Description
In the article, “Race, Justifiable Homicide, and Stand Your Ground Laws: Analysis of FBI Supplementary Homicide Report Data,” Roman examines racial biases in homicides that were ruled as justifiable in stand your ground (SYG) situations. Roman used data from the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report, which includes additional information about the relationship between perpetrator/victim and how the death was ruled; information that is not included in the monthly FBI homicide report. The data included more than 53,000 homicides from 2005-2010 where the victim and offender were from different races. The results found that in the sample, only 2.57 percent of the homicides were ruled as justified. White-on-Black homicides were the most likely to be ruled as justified (11.4 percent) while Black-on-White homicide was least likely to be ruled as justified (1.2 percent). The impact of race in SYG situations was found to be statistically significant to the homicide being ruled justifiable. Homicides were more likely to be justified in SYG situations for White-on-Black, Black-on-Black, and White-on-White cases. The likelihood of a justifiable ruling increased by six times when there was a single victim, a single shooter, both victim and offender were male and if they had no previous connection, and a firearm was used. The odds that a White-on-Black homicide was ruled justifiable is 281 percent higher than the odds that a White-on-White homicide is ruled justifiable, but Black-on-White homicides have half the chance of being ruled justifiable than White-on-White homicides. Black-on-Black homicides statistically have the same chance of being ruled justifiable as White-on-White homicides do. Being an older offender, having a female victim, having no relation to the victim, and using a firearm statistically increase chances of a justified ruling. Being a younger or male offender, having multiple or older victims statistically decrease the chances of a justified ruling. In conclusion, Roman notes that in the future, the FBI could consider adding a variable to include the setting of the homicide to help researchers fill in missing data to improve statistical models.