The Effects of Race and Ethnicity on Capital and Non-Capital Sentencing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• In Event: Inequality, Race, and Punishment

Abstract

Since the mid-1970s, social scientists and legal scholars have produced hundreds of studies testing for racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing. The results of these studies are mixed, with some finding that race and ethnicity have significant negative effects on sentence severity and others concluding that people of color are treated no differently—or in some cases more leniently—at sentencing. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review and meta analysis of research on capital and non-capital sentencing. We review 90 studies focusing on capital sentencing and more than 350 that examine the non-capital sentencing process. Our overall objective is to identify the contexts in which or the circumstances under which race and ethnicity affect sentencing.

Authors

• Cassia Spohn, Arizona State University

• Ojmarrh Mitchell, University of California, Irvine

• Daniela Oramas Mora, George Mason University

• Thais Moreira De Andrade, Arizona State University