Judicial composition of the federal courts: Exploring race- and sex-based sentencing variation at the district-level

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

Prior research suggests that the composition of U.S. District Courts can impact individual-level case outcomes for offenders, however, the literature remains mixed. While some scholars have concluded that more Black or female judges at the federal level can lead to more lenient sentencing outcomes for Black and female offenders (Farrell et al., 2010; Ward et al., 2009), others have found no relationship between the composition of district courts and case outcomes case outcomes (Farrell et al., 2009; Hartley & Tillyer, 2019). Very few studies have investigated whether the racial or gender composition of the judiciary impacts sentencing outcomes at the district-level, despite evidence of district-level variation in sentencing. The current study analyzes the effects of U.S. District Court judicial composition on district-level sentencing outcomes for female, male, White, and non-white offenders

Authors

• Matthew S. Crow, University of West Florida

• Natalie Goulette, University of West Florida