The Intersection of Victims’ and Offenders’ Sex and Race/Ethnicity on Prosecutorial Decisions for Violent Crimes

Race, Ethnicity, and Trial Avoidance: A Multilevel Analysis

“…To provide further clarity to our understanding of racialized treatment during the pretrial process, it is important to consider these outcomes in concert with each other rather than to treat them as isolated decisions. Plea, diversion, and dismissal decisions are concomitant pretrial decisions that can all be used to avoid a trial, and as select other scholars have recognized (e.g., Sommers et al, 2014), a choice made regarding one of these outcomes influences choices regarding others.…”

“…Interestingly, they observed no racial differences between negotiated and non-negotiated pleas, which suggests that it may be minority defendants’ decision-making that generates a racial gap rather than discrepancies in prosecutors’ plea offers. Sommers, Goldstein, and Baskin (2014) used a sample of homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault defendants from five urban jurisdictions to assess the joint influence of defendant and victim characteristics on pretrial processing. They found that Black males, and Hispanic males to a lesser degree, were less likely to receive a plea deal regardless of victims’ race/ethnicity or gender.…”

“…Other evaluations of racial disparities in case dismissals obtain results that refute the existence of a pervasive minority advantage in dismissals. Some detect little to no difference between White and minority defendants (Franklin, 2010; Sommers et al, 2014; Spohn & Horney, 1993), and some even observe advantages for White defendants (Baumer et al, 2000; Kingsnorth & MacIntosh, 2007). During the course of an examination into gender disparities in prosecutorial decision-making for intimate partner violence cases, Kingsnorth and MacIntosh (2007) found that Asian and Hispanic men were less likely to have their cases dismissed than White men, while Black and White defendants had comparable odds of receiving a dismissal.…”

The Sexual Stratification Hypothesis: Is the Decision to Arrest Influenced by the Victim/Suspect Racial/Ethnic Dyad?

“…LaFree (1980) states, "American society is characterized by a sexual stratification system which imposes more serious sanctions on men from less powerful groups who are accused of assaulting women from more powerful social groups" (p. 852). As a recent example, Sommers, Goldstein, and Baskin (2014), in their study of prosecutorial decision making and violent crime, found that prosecutors were less likely to make plea offers in cases involving suspects of color (i.e., Blacks and Hispanics) and White victims. In addition, Blacks or Hispanics who assault Black or Hispanic individuals will receive lenient punishments.…”

“…Conversely, Blacks or Hispanics who assault Whites will receive the harshest sanctions (Tellis & Spohn, 2008;Walsh, 1987). As a recent example, Sommers, Goldstein, and Baskin (2014), in their study of prosecutorial decision making and violent crime, found that prosecutors were less likely to make plea offers in cases involving suspects of color (i.e., Blacks and Hispanics) and White victims.…”