| Between 1986 and 1998, the difference in the amount of time that black and white offenders entering Federal prison could expect to serve before first release increased from 8 to 37 months. We also find, through a 3-way decomposition of sentencing disparity, that, by 1998, the relative importance of race in contributing to overall disparity in sentencing increased three-fold while the importance of Federal judicial districts remained flat and disparities across offenses types declined. This paper uses data to describe case-flow from arrest through prison admission and standing population to identify the specific sources of disparity in criminal case processing. It also presents data on indices that compare disparities betwen Federal judicial districts, races, and types of offenses and that conclude that disparities between races have increased more than disparities between districts or by offenses. To examine sentencing in more detail, the paper also presents results from regressions of sentencing decisions that control for racial differences in the characteristics of persons sentenced. These models show that much of the difference in sentencing across race is due to differences in offenses, with variations in tje mode of disposition and criminal history scores also contributing to the overall differences across race. |
Updated 05/20/2006