Executions in Tennessee are on hold after last month’s ruling by a federal judge, but that hasn’t stopped a legislative committee from continuing to study the issue.

The committee met yesterday and heard from the American Bar Association that there are racial and geographic disparities in death penalty cases.

Bill Ramsey is the former president of the Nashville Bar Association.

“44-percent of all the cases come out of Memphis/Shelby County, for example. And the vast majority of those are black. But in particular, what you’ll see is if the victim is white, the person is much more likely to receive the death penalty.”

Ramsey says even though Memphis has the largest population in the state and the highest crime rate, it still sees too many death penalty cases. He says geographic disparities are often a result of well-meaning district attorneys, who do have the discretion on when to seek the death penalty but have no strict guidelines to follow.

Ramsey says the study committee should recommend statewide rules for what crimes warrant the death penalty.

At present, it’s a moot point. A federal judge has effectively established a moratorium on state executions by ruling the lethal injection procedure cruel and unusual punishment. The state has appealed the ruling, but the issue is also slated for discussion by the study committee.