NCJ Number
238353
Date Published
2011
Length
215 pages
Annotation
This study focused on disparities in sentencing outcomes in Federal courts.
Abstract
This study assesses the impact of citizenship status using multivariate analyses to explore main effects and key interaction effects (race/ethnicity of offender, country of origin, and geographic location of sentencing) on the likelihood of incarceration, sentence length, and probation lengths. Chapter 1 provides the introduction for citizenship status and sentencing. Chapter 2 discusses the history and constitutional conflict of Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Chapter 3 includes strengths and weaknesses of the theoretical foundations for sentencing disparity, as well as the proposed theoretical framework to explain the independent and joint effects of citizenship status and race/ethnicity on sentencing decision making. A review of the findings and limitations of empirical sentencing literature regarding citizenship status is also discussed. Chapter 4 provides the statement of research hypothesis that guides this study. Also presented is the research methodology used in this study, including descriptions of the data and variables, as well as analytic procedures. Chapter 5 presents the findings of this study. Chapter 6 discusses how the proposed theoretical framework explains the findings of this research, along with suggestions for future research. Chapter 7 provides conclusions and policy implications. Tables, appendixes, and bibliography