SENTENCING GUIDELINES PROJECT - REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COURTS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RACE AND SENTENCING

• NCJ Number: 67793
• Author(s): N SHEFLIN
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 126 pages
• Corporate Author: New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE NEW JERSEY SENTENCING GUIDELINES PROJECT STUDIED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RACE AND SENTENCING AND CONCLUDED, AFTER CONSIDERATION OF OTHER KEY FACTORS, THAT RACE IS NOT A FACTOR IN SENTENCING.

Abstract

THE PROJECT'S DATA BASE CONTAINS OVER 800 ITEMS OF INFORMATION FROM EACH OF THE 15,130 CASES RECORDED IN NEW JERSEY FROM OCTOBER 1976, TO SEPTEMBER 1977. ALTHOUGH ABOUT EQUAL NUMBERS OF WHITES (46 PERCENT) AND BLACKS (44.4 PERCENT) WERE CONVICTED OF CRIMES AND SENTENCED DURING THE YEAR, BLACKS RECEIVED MORE PRISON SENTENCES THAT WHITES (47 VERSUS 33 PERCENT) AND LONGER PRISON TERMS (7.6 VERSUS 5.6 YEARS). HOWEVER, WHEN THE CATEGORY OF CRIME IS CONSIDERED, THE DISPARITIES ARE REDUCED. FOR EXAMPLE, BLACKS RECEIVE ALMOST 70 PERCENT OF THE ROBBERY CONVICTIONS, WHICH HAVE AN OVERALL INCARCERATION RATE OF 80 PERCENT. TO FURTHER TEST THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RACE AND SENTENCING, A MODEL WAS CONSTRUCTED WHICH EXAMINED EACH CASE IN TERMS OF VARIABLES. THE VARIABLES WERE TESTED, USING MULTIPLE REGRESSION, T-TESTS, AND CHOW TESTS. THE REPORT CONCLUDES THAT RACIALLY DIFFERENT BUT OTHERWISE SIMILAR OFFENDERS SENTENCED FOR LIKE OFFENSES RECEIVE CORRESPONDING SENTENCES IN NEW JERSEY. HOWEVER, INDIVIDUALS ARE JUSTIFIABLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE DISPROPORTIONATE INVOLVEMENT OF MINORITY OFFENDERS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROCESS. SUCH AN IMBALANCE SHOULD RECEIVE FURTHER CONSIDERATION. APPENDED ARE THE OFFENSE CATEGORIES, DISCRIPTIVE TABLES, ESTIMATION AND TEST RESULTS, DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIABLES, AND ABSTRACTS OF STUDIES OF RACE AND SENTENCING. FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. (TAG)