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March 13, 2010 in Nation/World
Sentencing study finds racial disparity
WASHINGTON – Black and Latino men are more likely to receive longer prison sentences than their white counterparts since the Supreme Court loosened federal sentencing rules, a government study has concluded.
The study by the U.S. Sentencing Commission reignited a long-running debate about whether federal judges need to be held to mandatory guidelines in order to stamp out what might appear to be inherent biases and dramatically disparate sentences.
The report analyzed sentences meted out since the January 2005 U.S. v. Booker decision gave federal judges much more sentencing discretion.
For years, legal experts have argued over the disparity in sentencing between black and white men. The commission found that the difference peaked in 1999 with blacks receiving 14 percent longer sentences. By 2002, however, the commission found no statistical difference.
After the Booker decision, “those differences appear to have been increasing steadily,” with black men receiving sentences that were up to 10 percent longer than those imposed on whites, the commission said.
Using another method of analyzing the data, the study found black men received sentences that were 23 percent longer than white men’s.
Latino men, meanwhile, received sentences that were almost 7 percent longer than white men’s. Immigrants also got longer sentences than U.S. citizens did.
The report also found that defendants with some college education consistently have received shorter sentences than those with no college education, but the differences in sentence length remained about the same after the decision.
The commission warned that its report should be read with caution and may not mean that race or class is influencing judges when they hand down longer sentences.
“Judges make decisions when sentencing offenders based on many legal and other legitimate considerations that are not or cannot be measured,” said the commission, an independent body of the federal judiciary. “The analysis presented in this report cannot explain why the observed differences in sentence length exist but only that they do exist.”
For example, a judge who’s sentencing two offenders who were convicted of similar crimes might impose a longer sentence on the offender with a more violent criminal past, information that wasn’t available to the study’s authors.
Nonetheless, opponents of looser sentencing guidelines pounced on the commission’s study, saying it demonstrates that the rules are needed.
“People who commit similar crimes should receive similar sentences,” said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. “Unfortunately, without sentencing guidelines for courts to follow, some individuals have received harsher penalties than others despite committing similar crimes.”
The report’s release late Thursday came as the House of Representatives and the Senate consider legislation that would reduce disparities in sentencing guidelines between powder cocaine and crack cocaine.
Defense advocates have argued for more than 20 years that the more severe sentences given for crack cocaine offenses, compared with those handed down for crimes that involve powder cocaine, were unfair to black defendants. A majority of crack cocaine defendants are black, while most powder cocaine defendants are white.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recognized the disparity and recommended lighter penalties in crack cocaine cases, prompting judges to review the sentences of prisoners across the country.
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CharlesBillford on March 13 at 1:01 a.m.
Because they cant afford decent attorneys and depend on the Public Pretenders to find them justice.
empyrius on March 13 at 1:09 a.m.
And blacks and Latinos are still stupid enough to join the American armed services. Sell-outs!
greyhound2 on March 13 at 4:43 a.m.
The biggest disparity is gender. Jail is a male thing. About 90% of inmates are male. If you figure that women are 50% of the population and are no different than men and commit just as many crimes, then its pretty easy to see that men go to jail, women don’t.
polistra on March 13 at 6:22 a.m.
“For example, a judge who’s sentencing two offenders who were convicted of similar crimes might impose a longer sentence on the offender with a more violent criminal past, INFORMATION THAT WASN’T AVAILABLE TO THE STUDY’S AUTHORS.”
Well then, the whole study is absolutely and totally invalid and absurd, and shouldn’t be cited as “news” by any responsible journalist.
omaha on March 13 at 8:11 a.m.
One thing I hate about news stories citing government or academic reports and studies is the fact that nowhere in this article does it state the name of the report or provide a link to the report.
The March 2010 report is entitled, Demographic Differences in Federal Sentencing Practices:An Update of the Booker Report’s Multivariate Regression Analysis and is available here:
http://www.ussc.gov/general/Multivariate_Regression_Analysis_Report_1.pdf
The articles states, “Using another method of analyzing the data, the study found black men received sentences that were 23 percent longer than white men’s.” To clarify one thing, the report indicates that the sentences were 23% longer from the most recent period studied which was December 2007 through September 2009.
WillyPeter on March 13 at 8:36 a.m.
Polistra nailed it! This is a silly, silly, race-baiting story. But, how ‘bout this; if you’re not a “white, Anglo male,” and plan to break the law, don’t come to America. And if you’re already here, best go to a country where you know, if you get caught, your punishment will be “fair.” LOL
omaha on March 13 at 9:38 a.m.
First, this is limited to just federal criminal sentencing and doesn’t include state criminal sentencing. Even though Congress has “federalized” a lot of crimes in the past 30 years (especially drug crimes), most criminal cases are handled in state court.
Second, an interesting thing about this whole issue is that the argument for getting rid of the federal sentencing guidelines was that it was so rigid and unfair to certain criminal defendants.
omaha on March 13 at 9:49 a.m.
greyhound2 - assuming women make up 50% of the population (I’m not sure and I don’t want to look it up) that doesn’t mean they commit 50% of crimes. I believe a vast majority of crimes (federal and state) are committed by males between the ages of 18 to 30. On the other hand, the study does indicate that women get shorter federal criminal sentences.
Cougardave on March 13 at 1:27 p.m.
Don’t worry so much. A stay in jail looks good on your resume. Now these people can get a government job in the Obama administration.
deacon46 on March 13 at 2:19 p.m.
So what!! Don’t do crime and you won’t do time. Simple !
jwc928 on March 13 at 7:13 p.m.
How can you even print a study as such, when the variables listed in the body of the story deny all that is promoted in the headline!
I’m thinking people don’t read below the “Fold” and the article claims some relevance to honesty. Spokesman, please go beyond United Press and McClatchy for some honest information.