Extra-Legal Attributes and Criminal Sentencing: An Assessment of a Sociological Viewpoint

1974/01/01 by John Hagan · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Crime Patterns and Interventions #Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending

paper · doi:10.2307/3053080

Abstract

Nearly half a century after Thorsten Sellin (1928) first introduced the topic for research, the issue of discrimination in judicial sentencing is still very much with us. Thus, Richard Quinney (1970: 142), among the more provocative critics of our system of criminal justice, observes that Obviously judicial decisions are not made uniformly. Decisions are made according to a host of extra-legal factors, including the age of the offender, his race, and social class. Perhaps the most obvious example of judicial discretion occurs in the handling of cases of persons from minority groups. Negroes, in comparison to whites, are convicted with lesser evidence and sentenced to more severe punishments.

Cited by

• Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts
• Sentencing Female Misdemeanants: An Examination of the Direct and Indirect Effects of Race/Ethnicity

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