10.10: Sentencing Disparities and Mandatory Minimums

Racial disparities in sentencing have been extensively documented across federal and state court systems. Research controlling for legally relevant factors such as offense severity and criminal history consistently finds that Black and Latino defendants receive longer sentences than White defendants convicted of similar crimes(Prison Policy Initiative. n.d.). A comprehensive analysis of federal sentencing data found that Black male defendants received sentences on average 19.1% longer than similarly situated White male defendants between 2012 and 2016, even after accounting for violence in an offender’s past, age, education, and other factors.

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which remove judicial discretion in sentencing for certain offenses, have disproportionately impacted communities of color. While these laws were promoted as race-neutral mechanisms to ensure uniformity and severity in punishment, their application has produced starkly racialized outcomes. The aforementioned crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity represents perhaps the most egregious example, but similar patterns exist across various offense categories. Research indicates that prosecutors are more likely to charge defendants of color with offenses triggering mandatory minimums, while offering White defendants more opportunities to plead to lesser charges that avoid these sentencing requirements.