Racial Bias and the American Criminal Justice System: Race and Presentencing Revisited

A controversy within criminology involves the extent to which race affects criminal processing. Investigators on different sides of the issue have relied predominantly on studies of sentencing, leaving largely unexplored the less visible area of presentencing. After a discussion of nine of the most prevalent shortcomings in previous research, this article critically examines the contemporary presentencing literature to ascertain the extent to which a discrimination thesis (DT) receives empirical support. It reviews the findings from 52studies conducted since 1970 that employ multivariate statistical analysis. Special attention is devoted to critiquing the methodological shortcomings of studies that support a nondiscrimination thesis (NDT). The implications of these weaknesses for the race/criminal processing nexus are discussed.