Appearance, Stereotyping, and Prosecution: The Gendered Effects of Defendant Hair Color in Case Processing

This study considers the gendered effects on prosecutorial decision making of defendants’ hair color, which is the subject of pervasive stereotyping that can be directly linked to expectations about criminal justice treatment. After exploiting a unique combination of data from driver’s license applications and the prosecutor’s office case records in an urban southeastern county in the United States, the study finds that among White non-Hispanic defendants, blonde defendants are less likely to be convicted and incarcerated, and red-haired defendants are notably more likely, than defendants with brown hair. Observed effects are significantly stronger for women than men. Findings highlight physical appearance as a source of unwarranted disparity in prosecution, and emphasize both the importance and gendered nature of stereotyping in the criminal justice system.