NCJ Number
137742
Journal
Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1992) Pages: 197-206
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article uses preliminary data from community service sentencing to explore ethnic and gender biases for a sample of defendants.
Abstract
Subjects for this study were first-time, nonserious offenders that came to the independent agency that monitors Los Angeles County's community service program. A sample size of 106 was used. Four types of legal information were obtained for each defendant: offense, number of hours of community service, type of disposition imposed, and sentence conditions other than community service. Extralegal data were obtained on age, sex, ethnicity, employment, and English-speaking ability. The study hypothesizes that when circumstances limit discretion, legal factors will determine the case's disposition; alternatively, when circumstances allow discretion, extralegal factors (such as gender and race) will influence case disposition. One of the most undesirable community service alternatives is work for Caltrans (California Department of Transportation), which involves picking up trash along California's freeways. The data indicate that Hispanics were more likely to be sentenced to Caltrans, and women were less likely to be assigned to Caltrans. Clearly, the ethnicity and the sex of defendants influenced discretionary decisions on where to place defendants in the alternative sentencing program. 34 references and 3 tables