Decomposing Prior Record’s Role in Punishment Disparities

• In Event: How Courtroom Actors Do Their Job: Lived Experience and Key Case Characteristics

Abstract

Recent research finds evidence of racial disparities in sentencing outcomes which are mostly attributable to the guidelines themselves—that is, minority defendants receive less favorable outcomes that are mostly attributable to some combination of offense severity and prior record, the two key determinants of punishment on a sentencing guidelines grid. While offense severity and criminal history have often been considered legitimate legal control factors, more recently, scholars have challenged the prominent role of prior record on a variety of grounds, including race and ethnic fairness. Using five recent years of data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (N = 256,430), we employ a decomposition approach to parse the relative contributions of offense severity and prior record to overall racial disparities in sentencing. The results may have important implications for policymakers whose “Type B” discretionary policies impact equity in punishment.

Authors

• Rhys Hester, Clemson University

• Miranda Galvin, Towson University

• Matthew Kleiman, Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing