For decades, scholars have documented disparities in the administration of capital punishment. Yet explanations remain largely elusive. One area in which the shift from documentation to explanation has occurred is victim gender. Williams, Demuth, and Holcomb (2007) demonstrate that the death penalty is more likely to be imposed on behalf of women and girls because such victims are more apt to be sexually degraded. We ask the next logical question: Why does sexual degradation lead to the ultimate state sanction? Is it simply because such cases are so horrific? Or are more subtle causal mechanisms at play? Our findings indicate that the relationship between sexual degradation and the District Attorney’s decision to seek the death penalty is fully explained by media coverage. The role of the media suggests that scholars who hope to explain disparities in capital punishment must consider the interplay between case attributes and broader social institutions.
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