RT Article
T1 Financial Dependents and Sentencing Outcomes in Federal District Courts: Variation by Race, Ethnicity, and Sex
JF Criminal justice policy review
VO 32
IS 6
SP 646
OP 672
A1 Testa, Alexander
A2 Hartley, Richard D. 1975-
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1759094587
AB A voluminous literature has detailed disparities in punishment related to extra-legal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and sex. However, less research has investigated the specific contexts and conditions under which disparities in punishment emerge. Specifically, limited research to date has examined whether family characteristics influence sentencing both directly, and in interaction with race, ethnicity, and sex. The current study investigates this question using data on federal criminal sentences from the United States Sentencing Commission for fiscal years 2015–2017. Findings demonstrate that providing support for dependents generally has a positive association with the likelihood of being incarcerated and overall sentence length. Moreover, the positive association between support for dependents and punishment severity is concentrated among Black male and Hispanic male defendants. Among minority females and White defendants, having dependents has either a negative or null association with sentencing outcomes. Findings are discussed in the context of contemporary theoretical perspectives of punishment.
K1 Family
K1 dependents
K1 Sentencing disparity
K1 Punishment
K1 Sentencing
DO 10.1177/0887403420943933