THE INTERACTION OF VICTIM AND DEFENDANT RACE IN MURDER CONVICTIONS: HOW ARE BLACK AND WHITE DEFENDANTS CONVICTED DIFFERENTLY? DOES ADJUDICATION STYLE PLAY A ROLE?
Open Access
Author:
Winslow, Marlea Nicole
Area of Honors:
Criminology
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Eric Baumer, Thesis Supervisor Stacy Silver, Thesis Honors Advisor
The Criminal Justice System of the United States impacts a virtually intangible number of individuals every year. Because it is such a far-reaching system, it must be evaluated for fairness and equity. Past researchers have asserted that there are racial disparities in how murder cases are adjudicated. The current study uses a logistic regression method to examine how defendant race, victim race, and defendant and victim race pairs impact a case’s likelihood of resulting in a conviction. It examines these measures in all cases that were adjudicated by a trial and within only cases adjudicated by juries and only those adjudicated by a bench trial.
