Criminal Justice/Criminology

5

Annotated Bibliography

Kevin Bolick

Criminal Justice Methodology

Professor Wright

2/4/2024

Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System

Fernandes, A. D., & Crutchfield, R. D. (2018). Race, crime, and criminal justice: Fifty years since The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society.  Criminology & Public Policy,  17(2), 397-417.

Type: Journal article

Length: 21 pages

Search strategy: Used the criminal justice database to find the scholarly.

This research article offers a comprehensive analysis of the discoveries and suggestions made by the 1967 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice concerning race, crime, and the system of criminal justice. The authors review what the Commission said about racial differences in crime rates and practices in the criminal justice at the time and the social reforms it advocated to address racial disparities. They then analyze developments in research and policy over the subsequent 50 years, finding that racial disparities in sentencing and incarceration persist, often unjustifiably. The article concludes by calling for a new commission to take an evidence-based look at mass incarceration and racial injustice, suggesting it could have significant advantages over its 1960s predecessor in data, research, and ability to shape reform, given contemporary knowledge. This source provides excellent historical context and analysis directly relevant to examining the factors behind and solutions to racial disparities in harsh criminal punishments.

Franklin, T. W. (2018). The state of race and punishment in America: Is justice really blind?.  Journal of Criminal Justice,  59, 18-28.

Type: Journal article

Length: 11 pages

Search strategy: Searched the EBSCO Host library database for peer-reviewed journal article.

This literature review article is a thorough overview of studies investigating racial inequalities in the process of determining criminal punishments in the US. The author synthesizes findings from hundreds of studies to determine whether race influences imprisonment rates and sentence lengths. The author’s assertion is that African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are subject to more severe punishments in comparison to white individuals who commit comparable offenses. However, the effects are often small to moderate and context-specific. The author notes that while overt discrimination is rare in modern courts, subtle biases can impact judges’ sentencing decisions. He calls for continued research to illuminate further when, how, and why race matters in order to work toward a truly blind justice system. Therefore, this article shows racial minorities like African Americans and Latinos face harsher sentences and higher incarceration rates than whites, though the effects are small to moderate and not entirely proven due to discrimination. This review offers an excellent starting point to understand the complex relationship between race and criminal punishment in America.

Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system.  Current Directions in Psychological Science,  27(3), 183-187.

Type: Journal article

Length: 5 pages

Search strategy: Searched the EBSCO Host psychology database for the scholarly article.

This research article by Hetey and Eberhardt examines racial disparities in the criminal justice system, specifically focusing on policing and incarceration. They argued that simple exposure to statistics of racial disparities can backfire, increasing support for punitive policies among white Americans. They describe that contact with extreme disparities triggers fear and stereotypic associations linking blacks with crime. Stark statistics can create explanations or rationalizations for what can be done and not motivate individuals in working towards addressing the inequality. The authors point out ways in which information about disparities may be presented more effectively by offering history, questioning implicit associations, and institutions' role in perpetuating the disparity. They stress the need to go beyond studying individual experiences and focus on changing systemic and institutional practices contributing to racial disparities in criminal justice. This source provides critical illustrates on how issues of information about inequality may be framed to encourage social change rather than defensiveness, justification and climbing of the status quo.

Hinton, E., Henderson, L., & Reed, C. (2018). An unjust burden: The disparate treatment of Black Americans in the criminal justice system.  Vera Institute of Justice,  1(1), 1-20.

Type: Journal article

Length: 20 pages

Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find the academic journal article on the Black American’s unequal treatment in the justice system.

This source provides an overview of the racial inequities within the system of criminal justice and their historical roots. It summarizes research showing that the justice system has disproportionately targeted black Americans since the post-Civil War era through intentionally discriminatory laws and policies. It also reviews evidence that disparities persist today through biased decision-making and the unequal enforcement of race-neutral laws that disproportionately impact black communities. For example, despite similar drug use rates, black Americans are arrested and sentenced for drug offenses at much higher rates. The report connects these injustices to the overrepresentation of black Americans at all levels, from police stops to pretrial detention and sentencing. It argues that a history of racial oppression has concentrated poverty in black communities, which drives higher crime and criminal justice involvement. Overall, this report effectively summarizes research on racial disparities’ causes to show the justice system’s unjust treatment of black Americans.

King, R. D., & Light, M. T. (2019). Have racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing declined?.  Crime and Justice,  48(1), 365-437.

Type: Journal article

Length: 73 pages

Search strategy: Searched JSTOR for scholarly articles published in criminology journals examining racial disparities in criminal sentencing trends.

This scholarly article provides an extensive overview of the study on racial as well as ethnic disparities in sentencing. The authors synthesize numerous studies to show that while some progress has been made, sentencing disparities persist between white defendants and defendants of color. They argue that common data limitations, such as relying solely on conviction data rather than arrest data, hamper understanding of the causes of disparity. The authors critically evaluate prominent theoretical explanations for disparities, finding shortcomings with theories like racial threat and focal concerns. They advocate for improved data collection and new theory development to better understand modern sentencing disparities. This source will inform my research by summarizing the state of knowledge on racial disparities and identifying the need for more robust data and theory to explain the complex causes of unequal punishment fully. It provides excellent background and direction for researching solutions. The article will be useful in the current research and will significantly contribute to exploring sentencing in racial and ethnic contexts.

Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions.  Journal of Social Issues,  75(4), 1139-1164.

Type: Journal article

Length: 26 pages

Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find this article.

This article by Margaret Bull Kovera provides an overview of racial disparities in the justice system, focusing on prison populations, policing, and participation of jury. Kovera reviews empirical evidence showing that racial minorities, particularly African Americans, experience disproportionate targeting and harsher treatment by law enforcement at multiple stages, from stops and searches to use of force and arrests. The paper also documents how accumulated biases lead to higher incarceration rates and wrongful convictions among minorities. While some disparities may be due to implicit racial bias, the author argues that explicit policies and practices also play a significant role. Kovera suggests structural changes like prohibiting specific police actions, reducing reliance on money bail, and eliminating peremptory challenges during jury selection could help remedy disparities. Though not a comprehensive review, this paper highlights significant areas of inequality and provides a thoughtful analysis of root causes and potential policy solutions to reduce racial disparities.

MacDonald, J., & Raphael, S. (2020). Effect of scaling back punishment on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal case outcomes.  Criminology & Public Policy,  19(4), 1139-1164.

Type: Journal article

Length: 26 pages

Search strategy: Used Google Scholar and filtered for articles published in the last five years on reducing racial disparities in criminal sentencing.

This study examines the impact of California’s Proposition 47 on racial discrepancies in criminal court results between 2010 and 2016. Proposition 47 reclassified several drug and property felonies as misdemeanors. The study reveals that Proposition 47 resulted in a reduction of racial disparities in both convictions and incarceration durations. Before Proposition 47, case characteristics like criminal history and pretrial detention explained most of the observable inequalities between individuals of different races. Following the implementation of Proposition 47, there was a reduced emphasis on criminal history, pretrial custody, and active criminal justice status when determining results, resulting in advantages for minority defendants. The findings indicate that implementing policy improvements that decrease the harshness of punishment for less serious offenses can assist in reducing racial gaps in outcomes within the criminal justice system. This study provides substantial evidence that scaling back punitive policies can reduce existing racial disparities, despite the implementation of reforms in a manner that does not discriminate based on race. Nonetheless, the article will significantly contribute to understanding factors leading to harsh punishment in a racial context.

Monk, E. P. (2019). The color of punishment: African Americans, skin tone, and the criminal justice system.  Ethnic and Racial Studies,  42(10), 1593-1612.

Type: Journal article

Length: 20 pages

Search strategy: Used Google Scholar and searched for the article.

Monk’s journal paper investigates the correlation between skin tone and encounters with the criminal justice system among African Americans. He contends that the majority of studies primarily examines differences between individuals of African descent and whites, without adequately taking into account variations within these racial groups that are associated with different shades of skin color. Through quantitative analysis of nationally representative data, Monk discovers that those with darker skin tone among African Americans have higher levels of arrest and imprisonment in comparison to those with lighter skin tone, even when taking into account characteristics like as socioeconomic position, neighborhood circumstances, and other variables. Moreover, inequalities within the same ethnic group along the spectrum of skin tones are frequently equivalent to or more pronounced than the disparities between African Americans and the Whites. Monk concludes that skin tone stratification is vital to criminal justice outcomes. This source provides empirical evidence that skin tone biases exist in justice system and highlights the need to consider gradations of color, in addition to broad racial categories, when examining racial disparities. The quantitative methodology also strengthens the study’s contribution to this body of literature.

Omori, M., & Petersen, N. (2020). Institutionalizing inequality in the courts: Decomposing racial and ethnic disparities in detention, conviction, and sentencing.  Criminology,  58(4), 678-713.

Type: Journal article

Length: 36 pages

Search strategy: Used Google Scholar to find the criminology article.

Omori and Petersen’s study investigates the racial and ethnic discrepancies in pretrial detention and sentencing results by analyzing data from Miami-Dade County. The researchers discover that Black and Latino offenders experience more severe consequences in comparison to White defendants, even when taking into account legally significant characteristics such as criminal record and the seriousness of the offense. Using decomposition models, the study finds that between 50-75% of racial disparities in detention, conviction, and prison sentences are attributable to differences in case factors like criminal record and pretrial detention status. The authors argue that while individual discretion plays a role, much inequality is embedded in criminal justice practices that disproportionately impact the minority group in racial context. They advocate moving beyond documenting disparities to examining the deeper societal processes that produce institutionalized inequality. This study makes an essential contribution by quantifying how policies like three-strikes laws and pretrial detention fuel cumulative disadvantage for defendants of color. It highlights the need to address these structural drivers of disparity rather than focusing solely on individual bias.

Wozniak, K. H. (2020). An analysis of Black–White racial differences in public support for nonviolent sentencing reform.  Race and Justice,  10(4), 456-479.

Type: Journal article

Length: 24 pages

Search strategy: Searched the Sociological Abstracts database for the scholarly article.

This scholarly journal article examines the level of public endorsement for the reevaluation of punishment policies for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes, with a particular emphasis on the disparities between white and African American individuals. The author administered a survey to a nationally representative sample and found that while both races supported community-based sanctions over incarceration for nonviolent property and drug offenders, support was slightly higher among African Americans. Racism and how people see the criminal justice system It was fairness that mediated the link between race and support for drug offender sanctions, but race still predicted support for drug offender sanctions even when those views were taken into account. The author concludes there is broad public support for justice reinvestment reforms, though pockets of opposition remain. The study is limited by its focus on only Black and White respondents. Overall, this quantitative analysis helps explain inter- and intra-racial differences in attitudes toward nonviolent sentencing reform.

References

Fernandes, A. D., & Crutchfield, R. D. (2018). Race, crime, and criminal justice: Fifty years since The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society.  Criminology & Public Policy,  17(2), 397-417.

Franklin, T. W. (2018). The state of race and punishment in America: Is justice really blind?.  Journal of Criminal Justice,  59, 18-28.

Hetey, R. C., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2018). The numbers don’t speak for themselves: Racial disparities and the persistence of inequality in the criminal justice system.  Current Directions in Psychological Science,  27(3), 183-187.

Hinton, E., Henderson, L., & Reed, C. (2018). An unjust burden: The disparate treatment of Black Americans in the criminal justice system.  Vera Institute of Justice,  1(1), 1-20.

King, R. D., & Light, M. T. (2019). Have racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing declined?.  Crime and Justice,  48(1), 365-437.

Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions.  Journal of Social Issues,  75(4), 1139-1164.

MacDonald, J., & Raphael, S. (2020). Effect of scaling back punishment on racial and ethnic disparities in criminal case outcomes.  Criminology & Public Policy,  19(4), 1139-1164.

Monk, E. P. (2019). The color of punishment: African Americans, skin tone, and the criminal justice system.  Ethnic and Racial Studies,  42(10), 1593-1612.

Omori, M., & Petersen, N. (2020). Institutionalizing inequality in the courts: Decomposing racial and ethnic disparities in detention, conviction, and sentencing.  Criminology,  58(4), 678-713.

Wozniak, K. H. (2020). An analysis of Black–White racial differences in public support for nonviolent sentencing reform.  Race and Justice,  10(4), 456-479.