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Do Driver Decisions in Traffic Court Motivate Police Discrimination in Issuing Speeding Tickets?

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  • Sarah Marx Quintanar

Abstract

This research provides new insights into police discrimination by following individuals� decisions in the court process from the time a speeding ticket is issued to trial. Quintanar (2011) finds that African-Americans and women are more likely to receive a speeding ticket from a police officer as opposed to an automated source, but is unable to determine whether this is evidence of statistical or preference-based discrimination. This paper expands upon those results by using a unique dataset which contains detailed information about the court procedural choices of individuals ticketed by police. African-Americans are more likely to fight their speeding ticket, while there is no significant behavioral difference by gender. This contradicts a motive of statistical discrimination by police; targeting individuals who are likely to pay immediately rather than use court resources to fight the ticket. Potential discrimination in prosecutor and judge behavior is also investigated.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Marx Quintanar, 2011. "Do Driver Decisions in Traffic Court Motivate Police Discrimination in Issuing Speeding Tickets?," Departmental Working Papers 2011-13, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2011-13
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    File URL: https://www.lsu.edu/business/economics/files/workingpapers/pap11_13.pdf
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