RT Article
T1 Paying the trial tax: race, guilty pleas, and disparity in prosecution
JF Criminal justice policy review
VO 31
IS 4
SP 500
OP 531
A1 Testa, Alexander
A2 Johnson, Brian
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1775899098
AB The vast majority of criminal cases are disposed of through guilty pleas, yet relatively little empirical research focuses on the factors that are related to whether a defendant pleads guilty or goes to trial. The current work investigates this issue, analyzing three recent years of data from the Maryland Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy. It examines predictors of guilty plea and trial dispositions as well as key differences among different types of guilty pleas. Findings indicate that Black and Latino defendants are substantially less likely to plead guilty, and that these differences are most pronounced for nonnegotiated guilty pleas. Little evidence emerges for gender disparities or for compound disadvantages associated with young, male, minority defendants. Results are discussed as they relate to contemporary theoretical perspectives on racial differences in perceived legitimacy and trust in the criminal justice system.
K1 Trial tax
K1 Guilty pleas
K1 Trials
K1 Disparity
K1 Prosecution
DO 10.1177/0887403419838025