Do Driver Decisions in Traffic Court Motivate Police Discrimination in Issuing Speeding Tickets?
This research provides new insights into police discrimination by following individuals’ decisions in the court process from the time a speeding ticket is issued to trial. Quintanar (2011) finds that African-Americans and women are more likely to receive a speeding ticket from a police officer as op...
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Summary: | This research provides new insights into police discrimination by following individuals’ decisions in the court process from the time a speeding ticket is issued to trial. Quintanar (2011) finds that African-Americans and women are more likely to receive a speeding ticket from a police officer as opposed to an automated source, but is unable to determine whether this is evidence of statistical or preference-based discrimination. This paper expands upon those results by using a unique dataset which contains detailed information about the court procedural choices of individuals ticketed by police. African-Americans are more likely to fight their speeding ticket, while there is no significant behavioral difference by gender. This contradicts a motive of statistical discrimination by police; targeting individuals who are likely to pay immediately rather than use court resources to fight the ticket. Potential discrimination in prosecutor and judge behavior is also investigated. |
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