Racial sentencing disparities and differential progression through the criminal justice system: evidence from linked federal and state court data

Abstract

Several key actors – police, prosecutors, judges – can alter the course of individuals passing through the multi-staged criminal justice system. I use linked arrest-sentencing data for federal courts from 1994-2010 to examine the role that earlier stages play when estimating Black-white sentencing gaps. I find no evidence of sample selection at play in the federal setting, suggesting federal judges are largely responsible for racial sentencing disparities. In contrast, I document substantial sample selection bias in two different state courts systems. Estimates of racial and ethnic sentencing gaps that ignore selection underestimate the true disparities by 15% and 13% respectively.

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ORCID for Brendon Mcconnell: orcid.org/0000-0001-6029-9479

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