While the effects are not necessarily limited to the least aggravated categories, the effects of race are strongest when prosecutors and jurors are freed from the seriousness of the cases to consider

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Capital punishment in Missouri: Examining the issue of racial disparity (1995) · doi

  While the effects are not necessarily limited to the least aggravated categories, the effects of race are strongest when prosecutors and jurors are freed from the seriousness of the cases to consider other factors.

  Keywords: effects necessarily limited least aggravated categories race strongest prosecutors jurors freed seriousness cases consider factors
• Social context and racial disparities in punishment decisions (2000) · doi

  Although the social context of a court is often claimed to be important to understanding the effect of the offender's race on punishment decisions, the links between context and racial disparities in punishment decisions are not well understood.

  Keywords: context punishment decisions social court often claimed important understanding effect offender race links racial disparities
• In Search of the Missing Link: Examining Contextual Variation in Federal Charge Bargains across U.S. District Courts (2018) · doi

  Punishment scholars acknowledge the fundamental importance of both prosecutorial discretion and jurisdictional variation in punishment; yet, little is known about the extent to which charging practices vary across court contexts.

  Keywords: punishment scholars acknowledge fundamental importance prosecutorial discretion jurisdictional variation little known extent charging practices vary