Race, drug, and criminal sentencing: Hidden effects of the criminal law

This study analyzes a sample of 1,379 cases involving persons arrested and charged with a single drug felony in Sacramento County, California, in 1987, and completed before December 31, 1989. The data were collected from the district attorney's files, and permit an analysis of the intersection between the racial/ethnic status of the defendant, type of drug, and criminal justice system decision making from the point of intake in the district attorney's office to final case disposition. Major findings include: African Americans are significantly more likely than Caucasians or Latinos to have their cases rejected or dismissed by prosecutors; Caucasians are more likely to be placed on diversion and to have their charges reduced to a misdemeanor; African Americans are more likely than Latinos who are more likely than Caucasians to receive a prison term; and, when sentenced to prison, African Americans and Latinos receive substantially longer terms than Caucasians. Two major hypotheses are offered to explain these findings. First, the penalty structure prescribed by the penal code provides for significantly less severe penalties for those charged with methamphetamine offenses than for those charged with offenses involving other drugs, in particular crack cocaine, and these drugs represent drugs of choice for different racial/ethnic groups. Second, the law provides for more severe penalties for those charged with possession for sale and sale than for those charged with simple possession. This study argues that the character of inner city drug markets, coupled with law enforcement drug suppression strategies, means that African Americans and, secondarily, Latinos are more frequently charged with more severe offenses than Caucasians. These factors, rather than racial/ethnic status per se, account for the differences in outcomes noted above.