| Popis: |
Although the intent of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 ("SRA," hereafter) was to eliminate disparities in sentences imposed by federal judges, differences in imprisonment sentences received by black, white, and Hispanic offenders grew more pronounced after full implementation of the guidelines. That is, imprison ment sentences meted out to blacks grew increasingly harsher, on average, relative to whites and Hispanics, during the first year and a half following full imple mentation of the guidelines (that is, after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Mistretta). At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, we undertook an analysis of sentencing decisions in all federal district courts between 1986 |
