The Impact of Defendant Characteristics on Sentencing Outcomes in Kentucky

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Sentencing Outcomes

Abstract

The present study examines the independent and joint effects of race, ethnicity, gender, and age on incarceration and sentence length decisions in Kentucky courts. Utilizing individual-level, longitudinal data from the Administrative Office of the Courts in Kentucky (2005-2024), the primary research focus is whether criminal sentences differ on the basis of extralegal social characteristics and whether these social characteristics interact to produce large differences in sentencing outcomes across certain race-gender-age defendant subgroups. Controlling for type of attorney, felony vs. misdemeanor, and county, preliminary results indicate that female defendants are 7 percent more likely to be sentenced to jail, while Black defendants are 11 percent more likely and female defendants are 24 percent less likely to be sentenced to prison. For defendants sentenced to both jail and prison, time matters. Defendants are 2 percent less likely to be sentenced to jail and 3 percent less likely to be sentenced to prison over time, which is supported by criminal justice policy reform in the state. For the length decision, those sentenced for a felony receive almost 2 months longer and Hispanic defendants also receive longer sentences. Findings speak to the complicated nature of the connection between defendant characteristics and sentencing outcomes.

Authors

• Jill Kathleen Doerner, University of Rhode Island

• Brittany Martin, University of Rhode Island