Abstract
Research investigating the relationship between offender race/ethnicity and sentence severity suggests the existence of contextual discrimination. That is, minority offenders are sentenced more harshly than white offenders in some jurisdictions, for some types of offenses, and under some circumstances. The findings of our study confirm this. We compare the sentences imposed on black, Hispanic and white felony offenders in three jurisdictions: Cook County (Chicago), Illinois; Dade County (Miami), Florida; and Jackson County (Kansas City), Missouri. Our results reveal that offender race/ethnicity has both overt and subtle effects on the decision to incarcerate or not. Although race had no effect on the likelihood of incarceration in Kansas City, both blacks and Hispanics were more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison in Chicago, and Hispanics (but not blacks) were more likely than whites to be incarcerated in Miami. Further analysis revealed that offender race interacted * This manuscript is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant SBR–93321852. Points of view are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the National Science Foundation. Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Volume 2, pages 3–37. Copyright © 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN: 0-7623-0680-7
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