Race, Ethnicity, and Punishment under Sentencing Guidelines: A Test of the Liberation Hypothesis

• In Event: Race, Sentencing & Policy

Abstract

While much research has been conducted on racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing, the extent to which legally relevant case characteristics may condition the effects of race and ethnicity has received limited empirical treatment. According to the liberation hypothesis, the seriousness of cases will affect the exercise of judicial discretion, and as a result extralegal sentencing disparities will be most prominent in cases that are less serious. To date, most prior research which has tested this hypothesis has relied on such measures of case seriousness as primary offense type or the number of prior criminal convictions. In contrast, the present study uses data from Florida to explore the conditioning influence of the total sentencing guideline points score associated with a particular case. This exceptionally precise and comprehensive measure incorporates a wide range of factors relating to the type and severity of defendants’ present offenses and prior record which in combination might reasonably be expected to limit judicial discretion. Further, we explore whether the guideline score conditions the joint effects of race/ethnicity and gender on sentencing as well as the combined effects of race/ethnicity, gender, and age.

Authors

• Peter S Lehmann, Florida State University

• Ted Chiricos, Florida State University

• William D Bales, Florida State University