| Abstract: | Race differences in criminal court sentencing outcomes have been of long-standing interest to sociologists. The findings about this topic are conflicting. Among the several explanations offered for the contradictory findings are that studies used old data, emphasized capital offenses, and lacked proper controls and statistical procedures. We present an analysis which corrects some of the problems of earlier studies. Race differences in sentencing outcomes are substantial in these data. We also present some evidence suggesting that when race differences occur, they may originate in the early stages of the sentencing process. |
