Demography of the Legal Profession and Racial Disparities in Sentencing.

The demography of the legal profession has changed rather dramatically in recent decades, yet the consequences of a more racially and ethnically diverse pool of lawyers for the administration of justice have not received significant attention. The present research examines how the racial composition...

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Publicado en:Law & Society Review Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 1 - 32
Autores principales: King, Ryan D., Johnson, Kecia R., McGeever, Kelly
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell March 2010
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Demography of the Legal Profession and Racial Disparities in Sentencing.
      aug:
        au:
          King, Ryan D.
          Johnson, Kecia R.
          McGeever, Kelly
      su:
        Criminal sentencing
        Criminal justice system
        Minority lawyers
        Racial differences
        Discrimination in criminal justice administration
        United States
      sug:
        subj:
          United States
          Criminal sentencing
          Criminal justice system
          Minority lawyers
          Racial differences
          Discrimination in criminal justice administration
      keyword: Race differences
      ab: The demography of the legal profession has changed rather dramatically in recent decades, yet the consequences of a more racially and ethnically diverse pool of lawyers for the administration of justice have not received significant attention. The present research examines how the racial composition of the local legal profession affects one facet of criminal law: the sentencing of convicted defendants. Building on prior work in the fields of law, stratification, and mobility, we hypothesize that racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing are mitigated where the legal profession is more diverse. In line with this hypothesis, analysis of data from a sample of large urban counties taken between 1990 and 2002 shows that the black-white racial disparity in sentencing attenuates as the number of black attorneys in the county increases, net of the percent black in the county and other possible confounding variables. Comparable results are found for Hispanics. The findings are discussed in the context of a demographically changing legal profession and prior work on racial disparities in the justice system.
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    language: English
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