One Day Makes All the Difference: Denying Offenders Access to 'Good Time' Through the Process of Federal Sentencing

• In Event: New Directions in Research on Sentencing in US Courts

Abstract

The race/sentencing literature has overwhelmingly focused on the imprisonment and sentence length decisions to the exclusion of other relevant outcomes. Researchers have attempted to remedy this shortcoming by examining the influence of race/ethnicity on a wider array of sentencing outcomes (e.g., various intermediate sanctions), yet other important, but less visible, decisions remain unexamined. One such decision occurs at the federal level where judges have the ability to deny incarcerated offenders access to “good time” credits for early release. Thus, the current study examines the influence of extralegal factors, specifically race and ethnicity, on this previously unstudied decision. Relying on U.S. Sentencing Commission data for fiscal years 2010-2012, results indicate that race and ethnicity do, in fact, influence whether an offender is denied eligibility for good time credit.

Authors

• Travis Franklin, Sam Houston State University

• Tri Keah Henry, Sam Houston State University