NCJ Number
101349
Journal
Western Political Quarterly Dated: (September 1984) Pages: 456-466
Date Published
1984
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Data for 10,500 felony cases, heard in Los Angeles between 1977 and 1980, were analyzed in a test of 3 explanations proposed for the more lenient treatment of female felony offenders.
Abstract
The finding of more lenient treatment has been ascribed to judicial paternalism, differences in charge and prior record, and failure to control for race. Analysis of data provides support for the paternalism explanation. Paternalism was evident in prosecutors' decisions to dismiss charges and in judges' decisions to incarcerate the offender. No evidence of paternalism was found in judges' or juries' decisions to convict, nor were there differences between the decisions of male and females to plead guilty. Results lend credence to the notion that there is more fairness at the trial than at the pretrial and posttrial stages of the criminal justice process. Racial differences in the effects of paternalism also were found. Black women were significantly less likely than black males to be prosecuted or incarcerated; while white women and men were prosecuted and incarcerated at the same rates. Hispanic women were prosecuted at about the same rate as their male counterparts, but were incarcerated much less often. Data tables, 14 footnotes, and 34 references.