Disparities in the Courtroom: Exploring the Influence of Race/Ethnicity and Offense Category on Charge Reductions during Judicial Disposition

• In Event: Race, Ethnicity and Juvenile Punishment Outcomes

Abstract

African American males comprise the most overrepresented group in the juvenile justice system. However, the preponderance of African Americans has been found to be attenuated among juveniles with sexual offenses relative to other offense categories. Moreover, family structure and prior court referrals also implicitly impact judicial outcomes. The present study broadens the range of prior research by identifying whether select factors significantly impact the dispositional stage of judicial decision making as measured by charge reduction and charge dismissal. Few cases of charge reduction were observed overall, while charge dismissal was fairly common. Results from multivariate testing on approximately 146,000 cases indicated European American youth with no prior charges who had committed a sexual offense from two-caregiver homes were the most likely to have charge reduction or dismissal. Overall, offense category was a more meaningful predictor of charge reduction or dismissal than race, but race and offense category interactions were also significant predictors. County-level information may explain why juveniles with sexual offenses had the highest rate of charge reduction and charge dismissal. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the importance of discerning the impact of offense category on juvenile justice outcomes.

Author

• Rebecca L Fix, Auburn University