Geography and Sentencing: Does Country of Citizenship Influence Sentence Longevity?

Abstract

Contentious debates on immigrants in the United States has led to growing interest in their treatment in the criminal justice system. Much of what is known, however, springs from research that treats immigrants as a homogeneous group. The lumping of all immigrants into one category potentially mask variances in sentencing based on national origins. The current study disaggregates federal sentencing data to explore whether length of sentence differs by the defendants' geographical region of citizenship. After controlling for a number of legal and extra-legal factors, sentences imposed upon Mexican citizens were found to be longer than sentences meted out to defendants who are citizens of other countries. Evidence suggesting that national origin has a stronger influence on sentence length than race/ethnicity and legal status was also detected. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Citizenship and Sentencing: Assessing Intersectionality in National Origin and Legal Migration Status on Federal Sentencing Outcomes

“…2. There are several noteworthy studies that have begun to explore differences in citizenship effects at sentencing across national origins (Holland 2017;Iles and Adegun 2018;Logue 2009;Orrick and Piquero 2015). However, these studies have generally focused on a single, specific national origin (e.g., Mexican only) or a single type of offense (e.g., drug offense only).…”

The methodology of the approach to improving the system of end-to-end training and selection in the Russian national sport - sambo (self-defence without weapons)

“…According to numerous studies, sports selection is one of the most important factors for achieving sports results (Volkov & Filin, 1983;Seluyanov & Shestakov, 2000;Sergienko, 2013;Gale Iles et al,, 2018). Naturally, various sports use different methods and criteria for sports selection.…”

The Effects of the Fair Sentencing Act 2010 on Sentencing Outcomes for Females Convicted of Cocaine Offenses

“…Prior research has shown that citizenship status played a significant role in sentence severity. Additionally, Sentence severity for Hispanic females may be attributed to negative portrayals of them as dangerous and raising gang members; thus, judges may have perceived them as more blameworthy in contributing to the “drug problem” in the United States (Albonetti, 1997; Brennan, 2006; Crow & Kunselman, 2009; Iles & Adegun, 2018). Finally, judges may view Hispanic females who were in the country legally and participating in illegal drug activity as abusing their “privilege” of being in the United States (Lynch, 2016).…”