The literature that has examined proportionality in the application of the death penalty confirms that a disproportionate number of America's ethnic and racial minorities are sentenced to death. Some analysts argue that this is the product of differences in "group offending" rather than systematic racial/ethnicity bias. Others argue that it represents "the most profound expression of racial discrimination" in America's criminal justice system. There is little disagreement about the fact that prosecutorial discretion in seeking the death penalty reflects a racial bias in which nonwhite offenders who murder white victims are significantly more likely to be prosecuted and executed for capital murder than are white offenders who murder nonwhite victims. In examining the capital sentencing patterns in the first 5 years after the Furman case, Bowers and Pierce discuss what they call the "extra legal functions of capital punishment," which include "minority group oppression," "majority group protection," and "repression." They conclude that the Supreme Court's rulings in both Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia failed to eradicate such "functions." More recently, the International Commission of Jurists issued the conclusions of an inquiry into the administration of the death penalty in the United States. The first of a two-part report was published in its entirety in the "Human Rights Quarterly" and concludes with the general finding that capital sentencing, as it actually operates in States, is inconsistent with international law. The lack of uniformity among categories of capital crimes and the failure to provide statutory protections against bias in prosecutorial discretion in seeking the death penalty are two areas of particular concern in the report. 2 tables and 41 references