NCJ Number
128848
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (1990) Pages: 83-105
Date Published
1990
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study compared the decisionmaking by black and white and by male and female judges in sexual assault cases disposed of in Detroit Recorder's Court from 1976 to 1985.
Abstract
The data for this project were collected as part of a larger study evaluating the impact of rape law reform in six jurisdictions. Data was collected from court records on 3,798 sexual assault cases. Findings indicate that there were no racial differences. Black judges convicted and incarcerated defendants at about the same rate as did white judges; they also imposed similar sentences. Female judges were not consistently harsher than male judges. The conviction and incarceration rates for female and male judges were similar. Female judges did, on the other hand, impose longer prison sentences than their male counterparts, due primarily to the fact that black female judges handed down harsher sentences than black male judges. The fact that there were no racial differences and very few gender differences in decisions handed down by these judges is congruent with previous research. 2 tables, 4 notes, 34 references, and appendix (Author abstract modified)