The research sample consists of males (2,627) and females (338) arraigned in State criminal or supreme court in a major New York city between December 1974 and March 1975. For each of the defendants, court record data were noted daily for the judicial disposition of every court appearance, including bail status and charge reduction. Data on the defendant's criminal history were recorded from State criminal records, and data on demographic characteristics of the defendant were obtained from interviews. Data were analyzed using dummy variable regression procedures. Findings were inconclusive as to whether the dismissal decision is differentially determined by sex because independent variables are poor predictors of whether a case is fully prosecuted. Sex has no independent effect on the question of full prosecution versus dismissal. Sex has a significant effect on sentence severity; females are more likely than males to be less severely sentenced. Nevertheless, a paternalistic response may be cancelled out by behavior perceived to be in violation of other sex stereotypic assumptions. Four tables are provided.