RT Article
T1 Sentencing Add-Ons and Implications for Disparities in a Guidelines State
JF Crime & delinquency
VO 68
IS 9
SP 1538
OP 1578
A1 Strange, C. Clare
A2 Cochran, Joshua C.
A2 Wooldredge, John
A2 Feldmeyer, Ben
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1839616385
AB 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.
K1 Incarceration
K1 Race/ethnicity
K1 Sentencing
DO 10.1177/00111287211047539