Is the impact of cumulative disadvantage on sentencing greater for black defendants?

We examined race-group differences in the effects of how felony defendants are treated at earlier decision points in case processing on case outcomes. Multilevel analyses of 3,459 defendants nested within 123 prosecutors and 34 judges in a large, northern U.S. jurisdiction revealed significant main...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Wooldredge, John (Author) ; Frank, James (Author) ; Goulette, Natalie (Author) ; Travis III, Lawrence F. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2015
In: Criminology & public policy
Year: 2015, Volume: 14, Issue: 2, Pages: 187-223
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Sentencing disparity
Cumulative disadvantage
Bail
Pretrial detention
Kaution
Bestrafung
Strafermessung
Strafungleichheit
Vorverhandlung
Description
Summary:We examined race-group differences in the effects of how felony defendants are treated at earlier decision points in case processing on case outcomes. Multilevel analyses of 3,459 defendants nested within 123 prosecutors and 34 judges in a large, northern U.S. jurisdiction revealed significant main and interaction effects of a defendant's race on bond amounts, pretrial detention, and nonsuspended prison sentences, but no significant effects on charge reductions and prison sentence length. Evidence of greater “cumulative disadvantages” for Black defendants in general and young Black men in particular was revealed by significant indirect race effects on the odds of pretrial detention via type of attorney, prior imprisonment, and bond amounts, as well as by indirect race effects on prison sentences via pretrial detention and prior imprisonment.
ISSN:1745-9133
DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12124