Ethnicity and sentencing outcomes in US federal courts: Who is punished more harshly?

Using federal court data collected by the U.S. Sentencing Commission for th e years 1993-1996, this study examines racial/ethnic differences-white vers us black versus,white-Hispanic versus black-Hispanic-in sentencing outcomes and criteria under the federal sentencing guidelines. Regression analyses of incarceration and term-length decisions reveal considerable judicial con sistency in the use of sentencing criteria for all defendants; however, imp ortant racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing emerge. Consistent with theo retical hypotheses, the authors find that ethnicity has a small to moderate effect on sentencing outcomes that favors white defendants and penalizes H ispanic defendants; black defendants are in an intermediate position. Hispa nic drug offenders are most at risk of receiving the harshest penalties, an d their harsher treatment is most pronounced in prosecutor-controlled guide lines departure cases. These findings highlight both a classic organization al tension noted by Weber and a fundamental dilemma in policy efforts to st ructure sentencing processes (formal rationality) while allowing for judici al and prosecutorial discretion (substantive rationality). The findings als o broaden our view of the continuing significance of race in American socie ty-as a matter confronting not only blacks but also Hispanics and perhaps o ther ethnic groups as well.