Blacks are more likely to be jailed pending trial , and therefore tend to receive harsher sentences; Whites are more likely to hire a private attorney than Latinos or blacks, and therefore receive a less severe sentence.
How do judges think about racial disparities?
Most judges in our sample attribute disparities, in part, to differential treatment by themselves and/ or other criminal justice officials, whereas fewer judges attribute disparities only to the disparate impact of poverty and differences in offending rates.
What is sentencing disparity in criminal justice?
Sentencing disparity occurs when similar cases are not disposed similarly or when dissimilar cases are not disposed differently . Disparity implies that many offenders are not being sentenced in accordance with legally relevant factors.
What are the two most common reasons for disparity in sentencing?
Some prison reform and prison abolition supporters have argued that race and gender are both valid reasons for disparity in sentencing.
How do you fix racial disparity in sentencing?
- Shift the Focus of Drug Policies and Practice.
- Provide Equal Access to Justice.
- Adopt Racial Impact Statements to Project Unanticipated Consequences of Criminal Justice Policies.
- Assess the Racial Impact of Current Criminal Justice Decision Making.
What are the four goals of sentencing?
Four major goals are usually attributed to the sentencing process: retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation . Retribution refers to just deserts: people who break the law deserve to be punished.
What sentence is the primary alternative to incarceration?
that alternatives to incarceration ( probation, restitution, community service, and/or rehabilitative services ) are the most appropriate sentence for nonviolent, non-serious offenders and that prison or jail are appropriate only if these alternatives fail.
What are racial disparities in healthcare?
The Institute of Medicine defines disparities as “ racial or ethnic differences in the quality of health care that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention .” Racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive poorer quality care compared with nonminorities, even ...
What is truth in sentencing laws?
Many States have recently enacted a truth-in- sentencing law which requires offend- ers to serve a substantial portion of their sentence and reduces the discrep- ancy between the sentence imposed and actual time served in prison .
What are the 5 aims of sentencing?
- Retribution. Victims and their families are injured, either physically or emotionally, by a crime. ...
- Deterrence. Another objective is both general and specific deterrence. ...
- Incapacitation. ...
- Rehabilitation. ...
- Restitution.
What is the biggest problem in corrections today?
Prison overcrowding, health care, racism, gang activity, privatization, assaults and more , are just a few of the problems that face prisons today. This is why many advocates are calling for prison reform. There are nearly 2.3 million people currently living behind bars in the United States.
What does a judge consider in sentencing?
A judge must impose a sentence that is sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to: reflect the seriousness of the offense; promote respect for the law; provide just punishment for the offense ; adequately deter criminal conduct; protect the public from further crimes by the defendant; and provide the defendant with ...
What does disparity mean in geography?
3. Territorial disparity. Territorial disparity indicates the degree to which the intensity of a certain economic phenomenon differs between regions within a same country. The concept of disparity, therefore, refers to regional differences in GDP per capita, productivity, unemployment and activity rates .
Are there any alternatives to putting someone in jail?
Probation . As an alternative to jail or prison, a judge can sentence a defendant to unsupervised or supervised probation. This usually involves a deferred or suspended sentence, and these sentences are available in both misdemeanor and felony cases.
