NCJ Number
228948
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: 2009 Pages: 77-115
Date Published
2009
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether White women received preferential treatment at the sentencing stage and at earlier stages of case processing.
Abstract
African-American and White women came to the attention of the authorities in different ways and had notably different drug indictment charges. African-American women were more likely to receive charge severity reductions at the disposition stage than White women, and this appeared to be related to the manner in which they were apprehended by the police. Findings for differences at the sentencing stage were mixed. While African-American women were not more likely to end up incarcerated than White women, they were more likely to be given shorter community-based punishments. In addition, police interdiction strategies did not influence the sentencing outcome. Whether race predicts sentencing outcomes among women, in general and among drug offenders remains a largely unanswered question. This exploratory study attempts to add to the extant research in the area of sentencing. Specifically, it examined sentencing outcomes for a random sample of female drug offenders whose cases were disposed in one administrative drug court in a large urban jurisdiction in North Carolina in 2000. It examined whether African-American females were treated differently than White females at earlier stages of criminal justice processing, and whether these differences were related to sentencing outcomes. Tables, notes, and references