Race/Ethnicity Gender Gaps in Sentencing Overtime: Have Sentencing Policy Structures Disadvantaged Minority Women

• In Event: Race, Sentencing & Policy

Abstract

Two longstanding findings in the sentencing literature are that the (1) female advantage of greater leniency at sentencing persists across racial/ethnic groups and (2) that racial disparities in sentencing are pronounced among men but muted among women. However, researchers have argued that the leniency afforded to minority women offenders may be a thing of the past and that sentencing policies, including sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums, may have operated to increase punishment disadvantages among minority women. Notably, researchers also contend that there now may be a "double-disadvantage" whereby racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing are wider among women than men. Using longitudinal sentencing data from Pennsylvania (1995-2015) the current study examines how race/ethnic-gender gaps in sentencing (Black Male-Black Female, White Male-White Female, Latino Male-Latino Female) have changed overtime and whether minority women have been uniquely disadvantaged by sentencing policies. The study disaggregates the analyses by offense type to examine the hypothesis that minority women are particularly disadvantaged for drug offenses. Results indicate that though sentencing policies have increased racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing, these disparities are largely limited to men.

Author

• Noah Painter-Davis, University of New Mexico