Prosecutors and the Production of Racial Inequality in Sentencing

Abstract This chapter examines how prosecutors contribute to racial and ethnic inequality in criminal sentencing, with a focus on the institutional features of the criminal legal system that facilitate and produce such inequality. After addressing the limitations of how criminological research has conceptualized inequality in sentencing, research addressing the specific legal tools available to prosecutors that produce disparities at sentencing is reviewed. This is followed by an assessment of scholarship that examines how variations in the micro- and macro- socio-legal, political, and structural contexts influence prosecutorial decision-making. The conclusion addresses the remaining gaps in this line of research and considers the potential for policy reforms to remediate racial inequality in the criminal legal system.