oach to the act of murder in this country. Ask almost any American citizen, and one would be told that murder is wrong, and that its perpetrator should be punished severely polls indicate that 84 percent of Americans approve of capital punishment (Kaminsky, 1985, p. 11). Ask almost any American about a specific murder, however, or place almost any American on a jury panel in a murder trial, and (1) the act of murder may not always be perceived as being wrong, and (2) even when the act is perceived as a wrong, the perpetrator may not be punished severely.
In point of fact, while the majority of Americans overtly condemn the act of murder, they tacitly condone some murders. The offense of murder in the United States is, to a great extent, a racially/ethnically segregated offense. For the most part, anglos are murdered by anglos 79.6 percent of anglos murdered are murdered by another anglo, blacks are murdered by blacks 94.7 percent, Hispanics are murdered by His
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