Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts*

@article{Mustard2001RacialEA,
  title={Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts*},
  author={David B. Mustard},
  journal={The Journal of Law and Economics},
  year={2001},
  volume={44},
  pages={285 - 314}
}
  • David B. Mustard
  • Published 6 March 2001
  • Political Science
  • The Journal of Law and Economics
This paper examines 77,236 federal offenders sentenced under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 and concludes the following. First, after controlling for extensive criminological, demographic, and socioeconomic variables, I found that blacks, males, and offenders with low levels of education and income receive substantially longer sentences. Second, disparities are primarily generated by departures from the guidelines, rather than differential sentencing within the guidelines. Departures produce… Expand
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