Longitudinal Analyses of Citizenship and Nationality Effects on Federal Sentencing Outcomes, 2000-2021

• In Event: Immigration and Crimmigration in the Courts

Abstract

Federal sentencing research has often focused on how a defendant’s race/ethnicity, age, biological sex influence federal sentencing outcomes (mainly incarceration and prison sentence length). As the number of noncitizens has increased in both the U.S. populace and federal courts, a handful of studies have examined the influence of citizenship on federal sentencing outcomes. However, these studies have produced mixed results regarding the significance, magnitude, and direction of citizenship effects. In addition, this line of research has largely relied on cross-sectional analyses – leaving us with a limited understanding of whether and how citizenship effects might have changed over time. As there are several theoretical reasons to anticipate upward, downward, or null, shifts in citizenship effect, the current study seeks to address this gap in the literature by examining the longitudinal effects of citizenship status and nationality on federal sentencing outcomes from 2000 to 2021, using the annual United States Sentencing Commission Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences datasets. Based on prior literature, it is expected that, throughout the years, noncitizen defendants have will have higher overall odds of incarceration but shorter average prison sentence lengths than comparable U.S. citizens. Results are discussed based in light of past research and theory.

Authors

• Doyun Koo, University of Memphis

• Bryan Holmes, Florida State University

• Ben Feldmeyer, University of Cincinnati