Hubbry Logo
search
logo

Sentencing disparity

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Sentencing disparity

Sentencing disparity or sentencing discrimination is defined as "a form of unequal treatment in criminal punishment".

Two judges could be faced with a similar case and one could order a very harsh sentence while another would give a much lesser sentence. There is evidence that some U.S. federal judges give much longer prison sentences for similar offenses than other judges do.

In 2005 Max Schanzenbach found that "increasing the proportion of female judges in a district decreases the sex disparity" in sentencing which he interprets as "evidence of a paternalistic bias among male judges that favors female offenders".

A 2020 study found with decreasing number of female judges in French courts the gender gaps in prison and probation sentences widens - prison and probation sentences are lighter for women, while suspended prison sentences are longer. The gender of the prosecutor seem to play no role.

A 2001 University of Georgia study found substantial sentencing discrimination against men "after controlling for extensive criminological, demographic, and socioeconomic variables". The study found that in US federal courts, "males are... less likely to get no prison term when that option is available; less likely to receive downward departures [from the guidelines]; and more likely to receive upward adjustments and, conditioned on having a downward departure, receive smaller reductions than ... females".

In 2006 Ann Martin Stacey and Cassia Spohn found that women receive more lenient sentences than men after controlling for presumptive sentence, family responsibilities, offender characteristics, and other legally relevant variables, based on examination of three US district courts.

In 2012 Sonja B. Starr from University of Michigan Law School found that, controlling for the crime, "men receive 63% longer sentences on average than women do," and "[w]omen are…twice as likely to avoid incarceration if convicted", also based on data from US federal court cases.

Natalie Goulette and her colleagues found 2014 support for the “evil woman” theory, which suggests that chivalry is reserved for certain groups of women who appear to be docile and in need of protection.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.