Across the Nation

Study finds disparities in death penalty

WASHINGTON - A Justice Department study found wide racial and geographic disparities in the federal death penalty system, but Attorney General Janet Reno blamed them on injustice in society rather than bias in her department.

Releasing the study today, Reno called for additional studies and legislation but rejected renewed calls for a moratorium on federal executions that poured in from Congress and civil rights advocates in response to the figures.

President Clinton said the data raised questions "since we're supposed to have a uniform law of the land." But he noted there had been "no suggestion, as far as I know, that any of the cases where the convictions occurred were wrongly decided" and said he would consult Reno before deciding what to do.

"At this point we are troubled by the figures, but we have not found the bias," Reno told a news conference.

"Minorities are over-represented in the federal death penalty system, as both victims and defendants, relative to the general population," Reno said. "Crime is often the product of social ills and harsh conditions, such as poverty, drug abuse and lack of opportunity, that disproportionately affect minorities. So long as those conditions remain, we will continue to see disparities in the number of minorities in the criminal justice system."

Two dead in Marine airplane collision

WASHINGTON - The bodies of two Marine Corps aviators were recovered in the wreckage of an F/A-18D Hornet jet fighter that collided Monday with another Hornet in the skies near Yuma, Ariz., the Marine Corps announced.

Killed in the crash were Capt. Bret Hines, the pilot, and Maj. Nicholas Ferencz III, the weapons systems officer.

The other Hornet landed safely with relatively minor damage, according to a statement distributed by Marine Corps headquarters in the Pentagon on yesterday. Neither the pilot nor the weapons systems officer was injured.

Neither plane was carrying live munitions, the Marines said.

There was no early indication of what caused the collision, and an investigation was under way.

The Hornet that crashed at about 4:30 p.m. local on the Barry Goldwater Range, east of Yuma, was from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 base at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.

U.S. grants visas to Cuban lawmakers

NEW YORK - Yesterday, the State Department approved visas for seven Cuban lawmakers to attend a Washington meeting of black Congress members, but still refused admittance to the communist island's National Assembly president.

A State Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the seven would be allowed to attend the meeting in Washington of the Congressional Black Caucus. The group had originally invited National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon and other Cubans to Washington for festivities marking the founding of the caucus.