Examining the Impact of Ecological Contexts on Gender Disparity in Federal Sentencing

Assessing Cumulative Disadvantage against Minority Female Defendants in State Courts

“…3 I take the natural log of this variable because sentence length is positively skewed. Further, cases in which the defendant did not receive a term of incarceration were coded as 0 months (see Kim et al, 2018;Steffensmeier et al, 1993;Wheeler, Weisburd, & Bode, 1982), and were added .1 prior to the natural log.…”

“…Studies using Federal sentencing data often cap the sentence length at 470 months for defendants receiving life imprisonment (e.g.,Spohn, 2008;Kim, Wang & Cheon, 2018). Since State courts are different from Federal courts, I use the maximum sentence length available in the data (840 months).…”

Financial Dependents and Sentencing Outcomes in Federal District Courts: Variation by Race, Ethnicity, and Sex

“…At the federal level, research often uses a measure of support for dependents as a control variable in multivariate models, although little theoretical consideration has been given to how this measure may influence sentencing outcomes (Feldmeyer & Ulmer, 2011; Freeborn & Hartmann, 2010; Kempf-Leonard & Sample, 2001; Kim et al, 2018; Mustard, 2001; Sorensen et al, 2014; Tillyer et al, 2015; Ulmer et al, 2010). However, a much smaller body of research has assessed whether the impact of dependents on sentencing outcomes is moderated by a defendant’s sex or race/ethnicity.…”

“…One noteworthy factor that has gone overlooked is the role of a defendant’s financial support for family members in the sentencing process. Most research about sentencing outcomes in federal proceedings often includes a measure of providing financial support for dependents as a control variable (Feldmeyer & Ulmer, 2011; Freeborn & Hartmann, 2010; Johnson & Betsinger, 2009; Kim et al, 2018; Mustard, 2001; Tillyer et al, 2015; Ulmer et al, 2010; Ulmer & Johnson, 2017). Yet, there has been little research about whether support for financial dependents intersects with the sex or race/ethnicity of a defendant to affect criminal punishment (Bickle & Peterson, 1991; Farrell, 2004; Ortiz & Spohn, 2014; Stacey & Spohn, 2006).…”

“… 6. Consistent with prior studies using federal sentencing data, listwise deletion was used to handle missing data (Johnson et al, 2008; Kim et al, 2018). However, it is possible that regarding the number of dependents, cases coded as missing might be indicative of having zero dependents.…”