Supreme Court rejects racial-bias death penalty claim in McCleskey

The Supreme Court rules in McCleskey v. Kemp on April 22, 1987, rejecting Warren McCleskey's challenge to his death sentence despite statistical evidence showing racial disparities in Georgia capital sentencing. The Court says McCleskey must prove discriminatory intent in his own case, not just systemwide racial disparities. Justice William Brennan dissents, warning that the ruling accepts a risk of racial bias in the death penalty. The ruling makes systemic racial-disparity evidence hard to use in constitutional challenges to criminal punishment.