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Unpacking gender and racial/ethnic biases in the federal sentencing of drug offenders: A causal mediation approach

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  • Ward, Jeffrey T.
  • Hartley, Richard D.
  • Tillyer, Rob

Abstract

Recently scholars have noted a limitation with current sentencing research is that the distinct contributions of prosecutorial and judicial discretion to sentence length have not been quantified. The current study seeks to calculate the proportion of sentence length disparities across gender and race/ethnicity that can be attributed to prosecutorial-initiated departures and sentencing decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ward, Jeffrey T. & Hartley, Richard D. & Tillyer, Rob, 2016. "Unpacking gender and racial/ethnic biases in the federal sentencing of drug offenders: A causal mediation approach," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 196-206.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:46:y:2016:i:c:p:196-206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.05.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Imai, Kosuke & Keele, Luke & Tingley, Dustin & Yamamoto, Teppei, 2011. "Unpacking the Black Box of Causality: Learning about Causal Mechanisms from Experimental and Observational Studies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(4), pages 765-789, November.
    2. Sonja B. Starr, 2015. "Estimating Gender Disparities in Federal Criminal Cases," American Law and Economics Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 127-159.
    3. Mustard, David B, 2001. "Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 285-314, April.
    4. Joshua B. Fischman & Max M. Schanzenbach, 2012. "Racial Disparities Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: The Role of Judicial Discretion and Mandatory Minimums," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(4), pages 729-764, December.
    5. Tingley, Dustin & Yamamoto, Teppei & Hirose, Kentaro & Keele, Luke & Imai, Kosuke, 2014. "mediation: R Package for Causal Mediation Analysis," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 59(i05).
    6. Kosuke Imai & Dustin Tingley & Teppei Yamamoto, 2013. "Experimental designs for identifying causal mechanisms," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(1), pages 5-51, January.
    7. David P. Mackinnon & James H. Dwyer, 1993. "Estimating Mediated Effects in Prevention Studies," Evaluation Review, , vol. 17(2), pages 144-158, April.
    8. Imai, Kosuke & Yamamoto, Teppei, 2013. "Identification and Sensitivity Analysis for Multiple Causal Mechanisms: Revisiting Evidence from Framing Experiments," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 141-171, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Testa, Alexander & Lee, Jacqueline, 2021. "Drug overdose death rates and criminal sentencing of federal drug offenders in the United States," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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