RT Article
T1 The Geography of Race and Ethnicity Effects in Federal Sentencing: A Descriptive and Spatial Analysis
JF Criminal justice and behavior
VO 50
IS 10
SP 1431
OP 1455
A1 Kramer, Kelsey L.
A2 Zhang, Yan
A2 Franklin, Travis William
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1859000177
AB Research has focused mainly on whether race and ethnicity influence sentencing outcomes. Much less attention, however, has been paid to where, geographically, disparities occur in the United States. Using the United States Sentencing Commission’s sentencing data from FY2015 to FY2019, we estimated the effects of race and ethnicity on sentencing outcomes across 90 U.S. districts. First, we examined whether race and ethnicity varied across districts. Then we mapped district-level racial and ethnic disparities across the United States. Finally, we examined whether district-level racial and ethnic disparities were spatially correlated, creating hot- or cold spots of disparity. Evidence suggests that disparities are not concentrated within specific regions of the United States and are not spatially correlated. Instead, racial and ethnic disparities seem to be somewhat dispersed geographically. Yet, disparities do seem to concentrate in a relatively small portion of U.S. districts.
K1 geographic disparities
K1 Federal sentencing
K1 sentencing disparities
K1 Race and ethnicity
DO 10.1177/00938548231186160