Cumulative Impact in Criminal Justice Processing: An Examination Across Decision Points in New York State

• In Event: Criminal Justice Involvement and Cumulative Disadvantage: Impacts Inside and Beyond the System

Abstract

Hagan’s 1974 call for research that looks across, and not just within, individual decision-making points to understand disparities in the criminal justice system has recently begun to be heeded by scholars. The current study is one such endeavor that looks across three decision-making points: arrest, arraignment and disposition. Using a cohort of all arrestees in New York State from 2010 to 2013, we begin by assessing racial and ethnic disparities at arrest. We then move to arraignment and disposition to examine possible disparities in case dismissals, acquittals, and discounts offered through plea bargains. Our initial findings reveal significant racial and ethnic disparities at arrest, but they also expose the hydraulic nature of the system that allows for self-correction evidenced in the greater likelihood of case dismissals and acquittals for both blacks and Hispanics. However, for those cases that are not dismissed, we find that blacks and Hispanics are less likely to receive downward charge bargains, or smaller depreciations in the initial charges than their white counterparts. We interpret our findings as they relate to both the literature on cumulative disadvantage and the growing acknowledgement of the role of the prosecutor in court decision-making.

Authors

• Theodore Wilson, University at Albany, SUNY

• Megan Kurlychek, University at Albany, SUNY