Marking Time: Does Race Make a Difference? A Study of Disparate Sentencing in South Dakota
Abstract
This paper is an empirical examination of suspected racial disparity in sentencing between white and Native American prison inmates. The analysis focused on male inmates in a northern plains state prison during 1985. The study is based on a sample of 602 inmates, 455 whites (75.6 percent) and 147 Native Americans (24.4 percent). According to our data, there was no significant difference in sentence length between whites and Native Americans. However, when the operationalized punishment severity variable was examined, a statistically significant difference did appear between the races. The article also examines some of the factors which may contribute to the differences in punishment severity.
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Feimer et al. (1990) found that Native American inmates had longer sentences than whites, net of conviction offense or prior record.
“Feimer et al. (1990) examined sentence lengths among a sample of 602 South Dakota prison inmates in 1985 and found that Native American inmates had longer sentences than whites, net of conviction offense or prior record.”
From Criminal Justice in Indian Country: A Theoretical and Empirical Agenda (2019) · cites this paper as Feimer et al. (1990)
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References 5 · Cited by 36
- Authors
- Feimer, S., Pommersheim, F., & Wise, S.
- Venue
- Journal of Crime and Justice
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1990-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 86-102
- ISSN
- 0735-648X (ISSN-L)
- 2158-9119
- OpenAlex
- W2017595871
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Crime and Justice (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Education › Education Discipline and Inequality
- Keywords
- prisoners, sentence length, severity of punishment
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