| Summary: | A study was conducted to expand knowledge of gender bias in criminal justice processing by analyzing the role of gender in the judge's decision concerning bail amount. Data from District Court files of Lancaster County, Nebraska, were used to test the hypothesis that female defendants receive lower bail amounts than male defendants even after the possible effect of legal and extralegal variables are considered. Findings rejected the hypothesis because, although females did indeed receive less bail than did males, the result was within sample error. Findings also refuted, on the same basis, the hypothesis that white female defendants would receive lower bail amounts than would nonwhite female defendants.
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