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Running head: POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH PAPER 1

Political Science Research Report

Institution Affiliation

Student’s Name

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 2

Statement of the Problem

White men committing the same crime with the black men are given a short sentence

compared to the black men. Federal prison of the United States reported that the black men get

twenty percent longer sentences. The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) after

observing a wide range of varieties such as education, age, citizenship, prior criminal history,

and weapon possession stated that the black men received longer sentences compared to white

men (Rehavi & Starr, 2014). It is contributed by control of sentencing disparities by non-

governmental organizations. The judges voluntarily revise the sentences given to the victims.

After revision of the sentences, they reduce the penalty of the blacks by smaller amounts

compared to the offenders who are white. Marc Mauer is a member of the sentencing project

where he serves as the director. The sentencing project aims at reducing bias in the criminal

justice system. The prosecutors contribute to the decision of whether the offender will serve a

minimum or substantial sentence. Prosecutors are more likely to charge the black people with

long terms in jail compared to the whites according to the journal of criminal justice (Steiner &

Wooldredge, 2015). A prosecutor may recognize that the judge is not guided by the ore-Booker

guidelines making him or she impose a mandatory sentence to the offender and make sure that a

certain period is imposed without being interfered by the judge.

United States of America house the largest population in the world. The ration of

prisoners is 666 inmates per 100,000 individuals (Omi & Winant, 2014). However, the quota of

the whites and blacks in prison differ. There is a ratio of four hundred and fifty prisoners per one

hundred thousand people while in blacks; the inmate's rate is five times higher. It has a ratio of

two thousand, three hundred and six inmates per one hundred thousand people. Recent research

done by the University of Michigan said that reducing the back prisoner’s number by nine

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 3

percent would save 230 million dollars a year. However, the judges are less likely to volunteer to

revise the sentences of the blacks. It is one of the reasons why the African Americans are more

behind bars comparing to the whites despite committing the same crimes. However, the judges

use the USSC’s guidelines which Booker opposes (Kim, et al, 2016). According to an article

written on United States vs. Booker on sentence severity, Booker states that it is easier to impose

harsh and short sentences rather than following the sentencing guidelines in USSC. However, the

black men are sentenced for more years for committing the same crime as the white person.

Explanation of the Theory

United States of America adult population consists of 6% of black men. However, 35%

of the prison population is occupied by black men (Omi & Winant, 2014). They are six times

greater in numbers compared to the white people in the prisons. During 2008-2009, the average

sentence given on federal courts was 90 months for the blacks and 55 months for the blacks. The

difference in the incarceration months is a concern to different people (Kaeble, et al, 2016).

People questions if the white and the blacks caught making the same mistakes are charged the

same imprisonment. It is, however, a challenge to answer the question because the criminal

conduct data is not adequate. There is a racial disparity in the prisons whereby the blacks are

given a longer sentence compared to the whites. Both the possible punishment and a crime of

conviction get considered as criminal conduct. Each offense has negotiated processes that

involve sentencing fact-finding, charging and plea bargaining. However, these processes involve

some racial disparities and are carried out about the sentencing consequences.

By analyzing the distribution of prison sentences about race by moths, it provides a

picture of comparing the blacks and the whites. It helps in comparing the whites and blacks that

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 4

were arrested by the same offenses, but things turn out to be different after entering the federal

justice system. The racial disparities in conducting the federal sentences are determined by the

criminal history and how the arrest offense differs. By observing every case from arrest up to

sentencing makes it easier to point out where the disparities evolved from in the judicial process.

The prosecutors serve as a determinant of the charges the offender will face. How the

prosecutors chose to handle the case may lead to the mandatory sentences. The chances of a

black person to experience such charges are by 1.75 times higher compared to the white people

(Brown, 2018). It increases the probability of blacks to face higher or longer sentences in jail

compared to the white men. The minimum charging decision set up by the laws explains the

disparities in black and white people.

Different factors influence the final decision of the judge. Sentence disparity involves

negotiations between different groups of people to come up with a conclusion. However, the

discussions may contain racial differences influencing the final decision of the judge — all the

other literature including the role of the prosecutors and previous history of the offender shape

the sentences. The prosecutor enjoys each step of freedom to decide what should be done to the

offender. Involvement of the prosecutors in negotiations influences stipulations was presumptive

sentences based. It refers to a guideline for establishing a baseline the judge uses when setting up

punishment to the offender. It contains the appropriate sentence for an absolute crime, jail

charges and time one will spend in jail. The charges that carry statutory mandatory minimum

sentences can be used by the prosecutor to make judgments, and the tool can cause sentence

disparities. It is one of the primary reasons why some individuals have longer and harsh

sentences compared to the others.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 5

According to the journal of political economy, by looking at the federal system, an

approximate of 97% cases is of guilty pleas. The federal prosecutors of the United States possess

freedom (Rehavi & Starr, 2014). It begins with choosing the charges for the offender. The

prosecutor may use ambiguous facts and have strong evidence making the offender face heavy

charges. The judges, legal scholars and the practitioners in the different institutions related to the

law have affirmed that the prosecutor has a significant role in determining the sentence of the

offender. The previous studies conducted on demographic and racial disparities in sentencing

have considered the general way of sentencing as an influence of the decisions that are made

before the final decision. For example, the federal system relies on USSC alone to make a final

decision for the disparities. Use of this system varies, and it tends to favor the whites compared

to the blacks. The base offense level was used by Schanzenbach and Fischman as a guideline for

criminal conduct and found out that there were vast differences that favored the white (Ulmer, et

al, 2016).

There is a vast difference in the term and charges imposed on the offender. Some

guidelines are considered to be notional thus producing racial differences in judge adherence to

the instructions. Fact-finding helps to determine the guidelines to be followed while conducting

the case and the judge may cause a disparity in sentences whereby he or she may state that the

evidence in the case is not adequate or decide to assume it. The parties making the decision and

the bargaining over the charges involved may influence the sentencing fact of the individual.

However, in the federal system, more than 50% of the sentences cannot be explained by the

offender’s previous traits or the offense when arrested (Yang, 2015).

A black person continues to get longer sentences compared to the whites having

committed the same crime. An analysis shows that there is a difference of 19.1% of the black

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 6

men’s convictions is long compared to the whites. Even after controlling factors such as age,

education and criminal history, the sentences of black people are longer. On average, if a black

has committed the same mistake with the white, they should expect their charges to be a bit

higher. The United States Sentencing Commission stated that between the years 2012-2016 the

sentences of the black men were longer compared to the whites (Blume & Vann, 2016).

Different variables were put into account that included citizenship, age if someone is pleaded

guilty and education. Another history conducted in 2016 alone gave similar results. About the

report presented by the commission, it is evidence that disparity is growing each year rapidly.

In the year 2005 and 2007, the judges were given more discretion in sentencing. It was

brought about by the effects of Booker and Gall versus the United States in 2005 and 2007

respectively (Kim, et al, 2016). The high role of choice given to the judges was said to open

more opportunities of causing bias to the races. The sentencing commission reported that the

judges could easily cut white men a break as compared to give a break to the black men. The

sentences of white men get reduced under the discretion of the judge as compared to the white

man. It is the reason as to why the white men are less in prisons as compared to black men who

are five times more in prisons. A study done by Michigan University showed that the increase of

Black men in the prisons is as a result of prosecutors charging decisions (Lee, et al, 2015). It

brought the differences between the sentences given to the white and black men. Race plays a

significant role in how one is perceived in the community and to the general public. America

Psychological Association found out that black men get viewed as threatening and substantial

compared to the white people who are seen to be non-violent (Zinn, et al, 2015). It influences the

decision of the people involved in the case to give a sentence. A less harmful person is given a

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 7

less punishment compared to a person who is harmful. It is the reason why the blacks are more in

prisons compared to the whites.

Statement of the Specific Hypotheses to be tested

There is a lot of bias existing in the criminal justice system. The use of different

approaches can eradicate the prejudice. People from different races add up to 30% of the United

States population. However, 60% of the races get imprisoned. One to three men of different races

is charged with life imprisonment compared to one to one hundred and six white men. Hillary

Clinton on a talk on criminal agenda stated that bias and disparity could be avoided by retraining

the police. The differences in sentences are not shown only by the differences in illegal activities.

According to an article published by stinger in New York, there is racial disproportionality in

prison. However, at each stage of the criminal justice process, the male offenders receive a hard

and harsh treatment from the people making the decision (Blumstein, 2015). Creating awareness

on racial differences and training over a few years have helped to make a small difference in

preventing bias in the criminal justice system.

A cross-sectional study on prosecutors and democracy states that prosecutors contribute

much to the length of the sentence. The prosecutors in these cases are individuals concerned with

the decision on whom to charge with a crime and the crime it is (Simon, 2017). More than two

thousand three hundred people in the United States exercise the prosecutor role of volition. For

example, a drug trafficker may be charged by the offense to sell drugs or prosecutor may decide

to charge the offender for each phone call that the person made. Many crimes attract more years

in prison and many fines. However, the prosecutor has a right to make no change whereby 95%

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 8

of the criminal cases are solved through plea bargains by not involving the judiciary in the

claims.

Blinding can help remove the prosecution bias whereby the race of the suspect gets

removed from the information (Sah, et al, 2015). It can quickly be done by asking the police or

office assistants to remove race from the documents or by using the software to manage the

cases. The program is useful as it involves minimal cost and a small effort by the administration.

However, the barrier accompanied by this case is a failure of every prosecutor office to blind

every case. Achieving these without political pressure is hard. The prosecutors make their

decisions based on the files of the police. The police should use the suspect's race for

identification purposes. It should not be relevant to the case. The prosecutors do not work with

the defendant, and when it is necessary, they work with the defense attorneys. The only way a

prosecutor can learn the race of the suspect is through the police reports and fines, but they can

be blinded.

The prosecutors may not be bad actors intentionally, but they suffer from unconscious

bias. About different studies conducted over the previous years, the white people view the black

individuals as a threat without any intended consent. Research done on workplace study, shows

that, the white names applying for a job received more callbacks compared to the blacks.

Different studies have shown that even the trained experts experience racial bias when making

specialized decisions on whom to give the work. Hillary Clinton and different policymakers

believe that the racial prejudice can get removed by training the police and how the prosecutors

should be professional (Birkland, 2015). A high percentage of people suffering from bias are not

aware. Many white people should be instructed to stop being racist and stop being aggressive

while interacting with blacks. It will help curb the current bias in the criminal justice system.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 9

Sample Procedure and Variables included in the Analysis

The methods used to conduct the research were a probability sampling method that

utilizes the random selection method because it gives the statistics that are valid. The chosen

sample represented the population incarcerated because we are testing whether the race plays a

role in incarceration. Stratified sampling is used in the research whereby the incarcerated

population got divided into two the blacks and whites. The blacks are less in the US population

whereby they are around 6% compared to the whites who are the majority with a percentage of

77.7% as per the results of 2013. However, the black people are more in prison compared to the

whites. There are different variables in the research analysis. The dependent and independent

variables are evident in the research. The independent variable can be manipulated while the

dependent variable can be observed and measured. A change in the independent variables affects

the dependent variables. The race of criminal is independent variable while the length of

incarceration is dependent variable used in the study.

Data Presentation

The data collected is both qualitative and quantitative analysis whereby the information is

be analyzed in descriptive analysis. The hypothesis to be tested is whether the race plays a role in

the length of incarceration. The hypothesis will get tested by imagining the null hypothesis is real

to help observe the results. The null hypothesis will be proofed to support another theory

whereby the variables do not have a statistical significance. It has helped in getting the views on

racial disparity and their influence on decision making in the judicial systems. The case study

will be used to analyze the research whereby the topic of the study will be narrowed to a simple

issue. The study uses the data from the United States Marshal Service, the United States

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 10

administrative office and the office of the US Attorneys (Harding, 2018). It will aid in intensely

studying the situation and getting into more in-depth details of the study. The analysis of the

previous reports will be done to find out the numbers of the blacks in prison compared to the

white men. The alternative hypothesis will be used which is directly opposite to the null

hypothesis and states that variables do have a statistical significance. It will be the hypothesis

used to discredit and disprove where necessary.

According to the data from the United States Marshal Service, the United States

administrative office and the office of the US Attorneys, the sentence of an individual depends

on the committed offense. The judges have the right to review the cases of the individuals in the

prison and may give them a break if necessary. It is clear that it is associated with racial

differences whereby the cases of the white individuals are reviewed more compared to the black

people. The prosecutors impose less or no charges to the whites while heavy changes and

mandatory sentence is imposed to the blacks by the prosecutors (Kim, et al, 2015). It is the

reason as to why the blacks are more imprison compared to the whites. From the statistics gotten

from the data collected, I support that the race plays a role in the length of incarceration.

Discussion

Black men serve a long time in prison for a similar offense committed by a white who

ends up serving shorter terms of imprisonment having done the same crime. The black people

make a population of 6% of the people in the United States of America (Zinn, 2015). However,

there are many black male prisoners compared to whites despite their low population in the

states. The black people are considered to be evil and harmful compared to white people. The

prosecutor tends to look the race of the person before deciding on what charges to impose on the

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 11

individual by introducing blinding in all cases whereby the race of the individual will be hidden

or removed from the view of the prosecutor to avoid bias. It will contribute to justice and prevent

racial discrimination. Justice can be made possible by educating people on races and training the

prosecutors to work professionally thus promoting justice. The number of prisoners will decrease

if justice is applied and these will save the taxpayers a lot of money.

Conclusions

In conclusion, black men serve more time in prison compared to the whites having

committed the same offenses. Prosecutor’s charges and racial differences contribute the long

sentences given to the black men. However, it can get avoided by blinding which will help in

removing the prosecution bias thus preventing racial discrimination (Sah, et al, 2015). Surveys

and case study will be used in presenting the data which will help in getting the views on racial

disparity and their influence on decision making in the judicial systems.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 12

References:

Birkland, T. A. (2015). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and models of

public policy making. Routledge.

Blume, J. H., & Vann, L. S. (2016). Forty Years of Death: The Past, Present, and Future of the

Death Penalty in South Carolina (Still Arbitrary After All These Years). Duke J. Const.

L. & Pub. Pol'y, 11, 183.

Blumstein, A. (2015). Racial disproportionality in prison. In Race and social problems (pp. 187-

193). Springer, New York, NY.

Brown, M. K. (2018). Race in the American Welfare State: The Ambiguities of “Universalistic”

Social Policy Since the New Deal. In Without justice for all (pp. 93-122). Routledge.

Harding, R. (2018). Private prisons and public accountability. Routledge.

Kaeble, D., Glaze, L., Tsoutis, A., & Minton, T. (2016). Correctional populations in the United

States, 2014. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1-19

Kim, B., Cano, M. V., Kim, K., & Spohn, C. (2016). The impact of United States v. Booker and

Gall/Kimbrough v. the United States on sentence severity: Assessing social context and

judicial discretion. Crime & Delinquency, 62(8), 1072-1094.

Kim, B., Cano, M. V., Kim, K., & Spohn, C. (2016). The impact of United States v. Booker and

Gall/Kimbrough v. United States on sentence severity: Assessing social context and

judicial discretion. Crime & Delinquency, 62(8), 1072-1094.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 13

Kim, B., Spohn, C., & Hedberg, E. C. (2015). Federal sentencing as a complex collaborative

process: Judges, prosecutors, judge–prosecutor dyads, and disparity in

sentencing. Criminology, 53(4), 597-623.

Lee, H., McCormick, T., Hicken, M. T., & Wildeman, C. (2015). Racial inequalities in

connectedness to imprisoned individuals in the United States. Du Bois Review: Social

Science Research on Race, 12(2), 269-282.

Omi, M., & Winant, H. (2014). Racial formation in the United States. Routledge.

Rehavi, M. M., & Starr, S. B. (2014). Racial disparity in federal criminal sentences. Journal of

Political Economy, 122(6), 1320-1354.

Rehavi, M. M., & Starr, S. B. (2014). Racial disparity in federal criminal sentences. Journal of

Political Economy, 122(6), 1320-1354.

Sah, S., Robertson, C. T., & Baughman, S. B. (2015). Blinding prosecutors to defendants' race:

A policy proposal to reduce unconscious bias in the criminal justice system. Behavioral

Science & Policy, 1(2), 69-76.

Simon, W. H. (2017). The Organization of Prosecutorial Discretion. Prosecutors and

Democracy: A Cross-National Study, 175.

Steiner, B., & Wooldredge, J. (2015). Racial (in) variance in prison rule breaking. Journal of

Criminal Justice, 43(3), 175-185.

Ulmer, J., Painter-Davis, N., & Tinik, L. (2016). Disproportional imprisonment of Black and

Hispanic males: Sentencing discretion, processing outcomes, and policy

structures. Justice Quarterly, 33(4), 642-681.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 14

Yang, C. S. (2015). Free at last? Judicial discretion and racial disparities in federal

sentencing. The Journal of Legal Studies, 44(1), 75-111.

Zinn, H. (2015). A people's history of the United States: 1492-present. Routledge.

Zinn, M. B., Hondagneu-Sotelo, P., Messner, M. A., & Denissen, A. M. (2015). Gender through

the prism of difference. Oxford University Press, USA.

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 15

Appendix I

Table 1; The Rates of Drug-related criminal Justice Measures by Race

Whites in

percentage

Blacks

in percentage

Drug Related

Arrest

0.4

1.08

Drug Related

Incarceration

(State)

0.28

0.05

Drug Related

Incarceration

(federal)

0.15

0.02

At the states level, the blacks are about 6.5 times as likely as whites to be incarcerated or

drug related crimes

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

Drug Related Arrest Drug Related

Incarceration (State)

Drug Related

Incarceration (federal)

whites in percentage

blacks in percentage

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 16

Appendix II

Table 2; Percent of adult males incarcerated in the United States prisons and jails

combined in 2009

Males incarcerated

percentage

Hispanic

1.8

Black

4.7

White

0.7

All

1.4

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

Hispanic Blacks Whites All

Males incarcerated

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH REPORT 17

Appendix III

Table 3; Black prisoners by offence estimated number under state jurisdiction by offence

per December 31 2012

Offense

Black inmates

All inmates

Drug

21.1

17.8

Robbery

18.9

13.6

Property

15.2

19.2

Murder

14.4

13.1

Assault

10.1

Public order

9.9

Rape

3.9

Other Sexual Assault

3.9

7.3

Other violent

2.7

2.9

Man Slaughter

1.1

1.2

other

0.8

total

100%

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