Race and Gender Differences in the Age-Sentencing Relationship

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Sentencing Outcomes

Abstract

Though age is always included in studies of sentencing as a control variable, there is relatively little in-depth investigation of the age and sentencing relationship itself, or how it varies across race/ethnicity or gender groups. However, the widely discussed curvilinear age-sentencing relationship may differ by race/ethnicity and gender. We examine sentencing data from 2011-2019 from Pennsylvania courts, focusing on the role of defendant age in predicting jail and prison incarceration and length. We examine differences in the age-sentencing relationship between Black, White, and Hispanic defendants, as well as men and women, and then examine age differences within race/ethnic and gender groups. We find that the age-sentencing relationship is conditioned in complex ways by race/ethnicity and gender, and the hypothesized curvilinear relationship does not hold for all groups. In particular, we find that older Black men and women were more likely to diverted from incarceration sentences, and if incarcerated, men were given shorter sentences.

Authors

• Jeffrey Ulmer, Pennsylvania State University

• Ryan Bowman, Pennsylvania State University