Reassessing and Redirecting Research on Race and Sentencing

Abstract

Drawing on a systematic assessment of the accumulated empirical literature and interviews with 25 race and sentencing scholars, this paper argues that the standard approach adopted in research on race and sentencing in criminology is insufficient for addressing the key underlying questions that motivate this work, including whether, where, how, and why race may matter. In light of this assessment, the paper lays out some additional directions for empirical research in this area that would bolster the validity and reliability of our knowledge about how race shapes sentencing and enhance the policy relevance of this work.

Keywords:

• race
• sentencing
• disparity
• imprisonment
• judicial

Notes

1. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the 2010 Symposium on The Past and Future of Empirical Sentencing Research at the University at Albany-State University of New York, directed by Professors Shawn Bushway and Diana Mancini and sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). For more details about the symposium, see http://www.albany.edu/scj/symposium_home.php.