Official Reactions to Hispanic Defendants in the Southwest (From Criminal Justice and Latino Communities, P 159-183, 1995, Antoinette S. Lopez, ed. - See NCJ-168536)

• NCJ Number: 168545
• Author(s): G D LaFree
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): 82-IJ-LX-0039
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: Garland Publishing, Inc.
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Data from 755 robbery and burglary defendants in Pima County (Ariz.) and El Paso County (Tex.) were used to determine whether and to what extent criminal justice outcomes and their determinants differed for Hispano American defendants and white defendants.

Abstract

Information was collected from official records and interviews with criminal justice personnel during December 1982 and January 1983. Results revealed major differences between the two jurisdictions. The Tucson data indicated no unfavorable treatment of Hispanics. Being Hispanic had no effect on the type of adjudication received, on verdicts, or on sentence severity. Hispanics received more favorable pretrial release decisions than white defendants. In contrast, Hispanic defendants in El Paso received less favorable pretrial release outcomes than white defendants, were more likely to be convicted in jury trials, and received more severe sentences when they were found guilty by trial. Interviews suggested that differences in Tucson and El Paso may be due to differences between established Hispanic citizens and less well-established Mexican-American citizens and Mexican nationals; to different mechanisms for providing attorneys to indigent defendants; and to differential language difficulties in the two jurisdictions. Tables, notes, and 52 references (Author abstract modified)