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Ethnic Bias in California Courts: A Case Study of Chicano and Anglo Felony Defendants
Author(s) -
Tinker John N.,
Quiring John,
Pimentel Yvonne
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1985.tb00852.x
Subject(s) - seriousness , ethnic group , sentence , criminology , law , political science , sociology , philosophy , linguistics
This paper reports the results of a study designed to examine the possibility that Mexican‐Americans charged with felonies receive biased treatment in California courts. Using data from superior courts in Fresno, California, it is shown that, when charged with similar crimes, Chicanos and Anglos in this district are given quite similar treatment–there is no observable judicial bias. In addition, this study shows a much stronger relationship between seriousness of charge and length of sentence (if guilty) than other earlier studies have. This is attributed to California's determinate sentencing law, which, it appears, forces the courts to give heavy and relatively uniform weight to legally relevant variables in sentencing.