NCJ Number
89993
Journal
American Journal of Sociology Volume: 86 Issue: 4 Dated: (1981) Pages: 869-880
Date Published
1981
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Research has yet to establish convincingly either the existence or the absence of sentencing discrimination. This paper identifies major methodological and conceptual problems inherent in sentencing disparity research.
Abstract
It presents an empirical analysis of the racial disparity argument for the years 1969, 1973, and 1977. Evidence is presented which indicates that sentencing patterns fluctuate with contextual variation, racial discrimination at the sentencing stage exists, and the detection of sentencing discrimination can easily be obscured by a number of pitfalls. Footnotes, tables, and 32 references are included. (Author abstract modified)