Raymond Paternoster
American criminologist
Raymond Paternoster (February 29, 1952 – March 5, 2017) was an American criminologist who taught at the University of Maryland from 1982 until his death in 2017.
Education
Paternoster received his bachelor's degree from the University of Delaware in 1973, his master's from Southern Illinois University in 1975, and his Ph.D. from Florida State University in 1978.
Career
Paternoster joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina as an assistant professor in 1978. He joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1982 and subsequently became a full professor there in 1990.
Research
Paternoster was known for his research on racial disparities in the application of capital punishment in the United States. This research includes a study of racial bias in Maryland's death penalty, commissioned by the state's then-governor, Parris N. Glendening. Paternoster then spent 2 and a half years analyzing data before releasing the study in 2003. The study reported that black defendants who killed whites were much more likely to be sentenced to death than defendants who killed blacks, whether the defendants were black or white. In a 2006 dissent, Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert M. Bell cited Paternoster's research on this topic as evidence that capital punishment in Maryland was biased against blacks.
“Raymond Paternoster” enters the record as american criminologist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Raymond, Paternoster and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Raymond Paternoster” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Raymond, Paternoster and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q29159521. VIAF identifies the subject as 53324255. The Library of Congress control number is n91020208. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1952, 2017, 1982 and 1973.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Raymond Paternoster”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Raymond Paternoster primary sources, Raymond Paternoster archive and Raymond research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Raymond Paternoster”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Raymond Paternoster” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.