Racialized Sentencing: The Disproportionate Effects of Sentencing Reforms on People of Color

• In Event: Criminal Justice Policy and Institutionalized Racial/Ethnic Discrimination

Abstract

Incarceration rates in the United States have increased by over 500% during the last 40 years. While this rise in imprisonment has impacted both men and women, as well as all racial groups, some subgroups have experienced higher burdens of this rise than other. Crime rates alone represent a relatively modest portion of the explanation in the rise. Some scholars contend the increase is likely due to changes in the policies and practices of the “War on Crime” movement. These policies included a series of state-level sentencing reforms that focused on limiting judicial discretion, creating uniformity within similarly situated crimes, increasing length of time-served and/or reducing discretionary parole decisions. Our paper explores the interconnection between rising racial disparities in both male and female imprisonment and the adoption of sentencing reforms. The results of prior research have been far from conclusive on the impacts of these reforms, suggesting that a nuanced exploration is needed. We will specifically assess the impact of sentencing guidelines (both voluntary and presumptive) and determinate sentencing as well as truth in sentencing and three strikes laws at the state-level and over time (1970s to early 2010s).

Authors

• Mark G. Harmon, Portland State University

• Breanna Boppre, University of Nevada, Las Vegas