Judges' Ethnicity and Minority Sentencing: Evidence concerning Hispanics

In: Social science quarterly, Band 74, Heft 3, S. 496-506

Abstract

In an exploration of the influence of judges' ethnic identities on their sentencing of ethnic minorities, archival records on 245 cases involving jury trials are perused to examine the sentencing of felony defendants by Anglo & Hispanic judges in El Paso County, TX. Analysis shows that Hispanic judges are not influenced by defendant ethnicity. However, Anglo judges sentence non-Hispanic defendants less severely than Hispanics, who receive sentences similar to those meted out by Hispanic judges. 2 Tables, 34 References. Adapted from the source document.