Sentencing Add-Ons and Implications for Disparities in a Guidelines State

This study examined whether and how discretionary sentencing add-ons (i.e., secondary charges, victim injury points, firearms/weapons points, drug trafficking enhancements) contribute to disparities. We examined add-ons that increase sentencing points and so contribute to a defendant ?scoring to pri...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Strange, C. Clare (Author) ; Cochran, Joshua C. (Author) ; Wooldredge, John (Author) ; Feldmeyer, Ben (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2022, Volume: 68, Issue: 9, Pages: 1538-1578
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Incarceration
Race/ethnicity
Sentencing
Description
Summary:This study examined whether and how discretionary sentencing add-ons (i.e., secondary charges, victim injury points, firearms/weapons points, drug trafficking enhancements) contribute to disparities. We examined add-ons that increase sentencing points and so contribute to a defendant ?scoring to prison.? We analyzed: (1) the degree to which add-ons explain racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment (mediation); and (2) whether add-ons are more adverse for minority defendants (moderation). We did not find that add-ons ?explain? racial differences in the use of prison sentences. We did find, however, that some add-ons, particularly those that signal ?dangerousness,? are racially/ethnically disparate in their consequences. The findings raise questions about the role of court discretion in perpetuating racial and ethnic disparities.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/00111287211047539