Beth Redbird

Whom do you talk to on a regular basis? Under what circumstances do you see others? How long do you interact, and how do those interactions change your attitudes? This project explores the structure of individual interactions and the way the content and frequency of those interactions differ across social class. Research in residential segregation suggests that neighborhoods can have significant influences in life outcomes. These conclusions are based on the assumption that your neighborhood determines your interactions. This project more directly measures interactions to assess the impact they have on a variety of attitudinal measures.

The policy discussion of criminal sentencing is rife with controversy. The result of such debate is a cornucopia of sentencing legislation that allows judges varying degrees of freedom. Sentencing scheme types include: simple, determinate sentences (exact number of years in prison), indeterminate or open-ended sentences (e.g., 5 to 15, 20 to life), and options for probation (instead of incarceration) or parole (post-incarceration supervision). Judges are responsible for decisions on whether to incarcerate, how long to incarcerate, and whether to require parole.

Supporters of judicial discretion argue that legislative guidelines require stricter sentences for crimes more likely to be committed by black defendants. The most commonly cited of these is the gross disparity between sentences for similar amounts of crack cocaine (with its significant presence in the black community) and powder cocaine (largely used by whites). Conversely, proponents of sentencing schemes argue that judges sentencing with no legislative structure impose almost universally harsher sentences for non-white defendants. A large number of studies have found that race is significantly correlated to length of sentence1. Given sentence disparities identified by prior research, the question is: how do sentencing schemes affect the fairness of sentences?

This project utilized the experimental method to isolate the causal effect that socioeconomic and demographic factors have on assessments of a just sentence at four levels: (1) decision on length of incarceration within determinate sentencing structures; (2) decision on length of incarceration within indeterminate sentences; (3) decision to increase sentence due to special circumstances, and; (4) decision to decrease sentence due to special circumstances.

Results show that black defendants are more likely than whites to be given longer sentences.  In addition, when respondents were asked to evaluate the defendant’s likelihood of reoffense, blacks were considered more likely to reoffend and were correspondingly more likely to receive an increased sentence.  However, when respondents were asked to evaluate the defendant’s likelihood of successful reintegration, black defendants were more likely to receive a reduced sentence.  Overall, the results indicate that blacks are more likely than whites to be sentenced at the extremes of the judicial sentencing range.