Just Another Crime? Examining Disparity in Homicide Sentencing

Abstract

Analyses of disparity in sentencing most frequently use general felony court samples. Because of this, little is known about the specific patterns of sentencing disparity among defendants convicted of criminal homicide. Using a sample of defendants adjudicated guilty of homicide in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, over the period 1995–2000, this research seeks to describe and explain patterns of sentencing with reference to legal and extralegal defendant and case characteristics. The findings indicate that it is primarily legally relevant variables that influence sentencing outcomes in homicide cases; however, some evidence is found for case processing effects as well as for the operation of criminal stereotypes in the generation of sentence disparities. Implications of these findings for research designs and theory development are discussed.

Driving racial profiling research forward: Learning lessons from sentencing research

“…This explanatory function has allowed researchers to "account for events and actions of others in the face of incomplete information [and also] serve to reduce cognitive uncertainty in helping individuals to predict and manage their environment" (Auerhahn, 2007, p. 284). Although focal concerns and attribution theory have been used to explain judicial discretion and sentencing disparity related to extralegal factors, Auerhahn (2007) suggested that together they provide "a fuller picture of the ways in which criminal stereotypes (or imagery, or criminal conceptions) influence attributions, which result in the patterns of disparity that we observe empirically" (p. 288).…”

Recent Developments and New Directions in Sentencing Research

“…For example, to what extent are certain kinds of offenders advantaged or disadvantaged in particular case circumstances and/or for particular offenses (e.g. Auerhahn, 2007) Alternately, we should more fully consider the implications of the extent to which criminal history may mediate the effects of race or ethnicity (in combination with gender). If, for example, criminal history partially or fully mediates the effects of black or Hispanic male status (as it appears to do in several studies) what does this mean?…”

Sentencing Homicide Offenders in the Netherlands: Offender, Victim, and Situational Influences in Criminal Punishment*

“…Contemporary research on criminal sentencing in the United States provides substantial contributions, but recent scholarship identifies several key limitations in this work. These limitations include inadequate attention to the role played by other court actors besides the judge, a failure to go beyond publicly available data, a lack of detailed statistical controls and interactions that capture the full gamut of sentencing considerations, and the practice of combining data on various crime types that include mostly minor offenses (Auerhahn, 2007a;Bushway and Piehl, 2007;Johnson, 2003;Mears, 1998; Thomson and Zingraff, 1981;Wellford, 2007;Wooldredge, 1998).…”