Transcript Department of Criminal Justice California State University - Bakersfield CRJU 330 Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice Dr.

Department of Criminal Justice
California State University - Bakersfield
CRJU 330
Race, Ethnicity and Criminal Justice
Dr. Abu-Lughod, Reem Ali
RACE & SENTENCING


Studies generally show that AA and
Hispanics are more likely than whites to
receive harsher punishments for similar
offenses
However other studies show that race plays a
very small role in determining final
sentencing decisions in the CJ system

Social class though plays a very
important role in the sentencing
process, and more likely than not, AA
and Hispanics particularly those who
commit street crimes will face harsher
punishments, and will less likely be
represented by an adequate public
defender. Those who belong to the
middle and upper will have a “private
attorney” representing them

1.
2.
FOUR EXPLANATIONS FOR RACIAL
DISPARITIES IN SENTENCING
AA and Hispanics commit more serious crimes and
have more serious prior criminal records than
whites. This means racial disparity but not racial
discrimination
More likely than whites to be poor, being poor is
associated with a greater likelihood of pretrial
detention and unemployment, both may lead to
harsher punishment. This means indirect
(economic) discrimination
3. Judges are biased or have prejudices
against racial minorities. This means
direct racial discrimination
4. Disparities occur in some context but
not in others. This means subtle
(contextual) discrimination


ARE CRIME SERIOUSNESS AND PRIOR CRIMINAL RECORD
“LEGALLY RELEVANT” VARIABLES ?
Some argues that if judges base their
decisions on these two legal factors to
sentence offenders, then they are making
legitimate decisions that are racially neutral. Is
this TRUE? Or do we have more prosecutors
filing more serious charges against minorities
than whites who engage in the same crimes.
Or if police target particular neighborhoods
that are populated with racial minorities, that
may be race linked
CONFLICT THEORY AND SENTENCING
OUTCOMES

Sentencing varies according to the extent
to which the behaviors of the powerless
conflict with interests of the powerful.
Also it matters whether the crime
committed is interracial or intra-racial
WHEN DOES RACE MATTER?
 In
some studies (Darrell Steffensmeier) race,
after controlling for some legal factors, did not
play a major role in determining sentencing
procedures
 However,
recent studies (Steffensmeier, Kramer,
and Ulmer) looked at race, gender and age to
determine sentencing patterns. Found that young
black men are more likely to be punished harshly
for crimes committed
 However,
they also concluded that other factors
may have played a role
 For
instance, in the Pennsylvania study, the
researchers found that none of the following
factors (race, gender, ethnicity, age, employment
status) had a significant effect on the length of
the sentence but on the decision to incarcerate
or not in the three jurisdictions (Chicago, Miami
and Kansas)
 Another
issue is that young, black, unemployed
racial minorities are targeted and punished more
severely because they are seen as a threat to the
community
PLEASE REFER TO SOME OF THE EXAMPLES
PROVIDED BY YOUR AUTHORS IN THE BOXES
WITHIN THE CHAPTER. ALSO, READ SOME ON
THE “FOCUS ON THE ISSUE” PARTS YOUR
AUTHORS PROVIDE. PLEASE BE PREPARED TO
DISCUSS THEM IN CLASS
SENTENCING AND THE WAR ON DRUGS

Michael Tonry in Malign Neglect talks about why
black American males are disproportionately
incarcerated despite their crimes being leveled
over the past 20 years

He argues that the WAR ON DRUGS only
targeted minorities in particular neighborhoods
It
used to be that 500 grams of
powder cocaine and 5 grams of
crack triggers a mandatory sentence
of 5 years minimum. This was
eventually challenged and the U.S.
sentencing commission
recommended that the 5 year min
sentence for crack be increased to
at least 25 grams and the 10-year
mandatory sentence be increased to
250 grams. Most involved in crack
cocaine are AA
CONCLUSION
Different
While
studies yield different results
some argue that there is racial
discrimination in the CJ system
particularly in the sentencing process,
other studies do not find that there are
direct effects
The
authors argue that perhaps it has
become difficult to detect discrimination in
the CJ system because of the different
factors that actually do play a role
Contextual
place
discrimination is what is taking