Cumulative Racial and Ethnic Disadvantage in Miami-Dade County Courts

• In Event: Neglected Variables and Racial Disparity in Criminal Case Processing

Abstract

Much of the prior research on racial inequality in criminal justice focuses on a particular criminal justice institution such as policing or sentencing, but fails to examine the processes in between, or how these institutions interact to produce cumulative racial inequalities. This single-stage approach pays insufficient attention to the mechanisms by which cases enter into and funnel through the criminal justice system, and as a result little is known about the locus of racial/ethnic disparities in criminal cases or how such biases are compounded as defendants move through the system. Our project traces defendants through multiple stages of Miami-Dade County’s criminal justice system, beginning with the inception of a case and ending with sentencing decisions. In doing so, we consider how structural inequalities are built into the legal process itself, and racial disparity may result from organizational practices and decisions operating at many stages of the decision-making process.

Authors

• Marisa Omori, University of Miami

• Nick Petersen, University of Miami