Date of Award
Spring 6-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Criminal Justice
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
William C. Heffernan
Second Reader
Frank S. Pezzella
Abstract
The Black-White sentencing gap, as defined by the differences between the average sentences received by Black defendants and those by White defendants, is an under- research area. In the federal court, after United States v. Booker, this gap has decreased from 25 months in 2008-2010 to 0 in 2016-2107. By using Oaxaca decomposition, I find that the differences in criminal history, offense levels, and pretrial detention status between Black and White defendants are the main source of the gap. The unexplained portion of the gap, resulting from judges finding Black defendants more culpable to their offenses and thus imposing harsher sentences, is relatively small, though significant. I further examine the changes in the gap with the Wellington extension and find that the decrease is largely driven by the changes in the Black and White defendants’ offense levels and the rate of receiving charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences. Judges’treatment of Black defendants has changed very little over time.
Recommended Citation
zhang, shuhao, "Changes in the Black-White Sentencing Gap after United States v. Booker, 2008-17" (2021). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/184
Included in
Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons