Equal Justice: An Examination of the Effects of Citizenship Status on Federal Drug Sentencing Outcomes

• In Event: Sentencing Disparities in U.S. Federal Courts

Abstract

Previous research has found that citizenship status is related to Federal sentencing outcomes despite the identification of this variable as extralegal by the USSC, though research remains largely divided on the extent and manifestation of this disparity. Furthermore, only a very few of these studies have examined potential mediating and moderating effects for noncitizen offenders. Because political rhetoric often emphasizes “illegal immigrants from Mexico,” ethnicity, country of origin, and documentation status are likely to influence sentencing outcomes. This study is the first known study to control for each of these potential mediators in the analysis of noncitizen federal sentencing disparities. Using data from the USSC’s Monitoring of Federal Sentences from 1999-2013, this study examines case level effects of citizenship status, among other theoretically relevant predictors, on sentencing severity for federal drug offenders. The results of this study support the hypothesis that noncitizens receive more severe sentencing outcomes compared to their U.S. citizen counterparts. While ethnicity, documentation status, and country of origin are significant predictors of case level sentencing severity, these variables do not explain noncitizen effects in their entirety.

Author

• Melanie M. Holland, Penn State Altoona