Racial Discrepancies in the Judicial System
Mentor 1
Tina Freiburger
Start Date
28-4-2023 12:00 AM
Description
Racial Discrepancies in the Judicial System Milwaukee, Wisconsin is often recognized as the most segregated city in the country and has the third-highest rate of Black incarceration among the 50 largest urban areas. Similar to this phenomenon, research will be conducted to determine whether such racial disparities (i.e., bail amounts, incarceration rates, etc.) have translated into the judicial system by analyzing data from two sources– the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA, publicly available adult court records in WI) and the Public Safety Assessment (PSA, recidivism likelihood). The defendants will be grouped into categories using a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) by linking each “treated” (case during COVID-19: 2019-2020) unit with a like “non-treated” (case before COVID-19: pre-quarantine in 2019) unit to examine changes in pretrial release (i.e. the “,reform” efforts). Analysis includes exploring how pretrial practices have changed and impacted subsequent outcomes, utilizing data graphs to examine whether individuals received a new arrest after release and final sentence decision/length of incarceration, and finally, assessing the impact of the race/ethnicity variable pre and during COVID. The latter will take place by utilizing separate regression models for the two pretrial decision variables, including the following: five pretrial outcome variables and two sentencing decision variables (with race/ethnicity as an independent variable). Based on the impact of the reform, future investigations must consider the effects that presentence incarceration has on defendants of color and equality when informing non-bail release options. Ultimately, this study has the potential to change practice beyond Milwaukee County if the statistics in the Milwaukee County Judicial system showcase racial correlation and causation, which, in turn, may cause other cities to review whether they innately hold racial disparities as well.
Racial Discrepancies in the Judicial System
Racial Discrepancies in the Judicial System Milwaukee, Wisconsin is often recognized as the most segregated city in the country and has the third-highest rate of Black incarceration among the 50 largest urban areas. Similar to this phenomenon, research will be conducted to determine whether such racial disparities (i.e., bail amounts, incarceration rates, etc.) have translated into the judicial system by analyzing data from two sources– the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA, publicly available adult court records in WI) and the Public Safety Assessment (PSA, recidivism likelihood). The defendants will be grouped into categories using a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) by linking each “treated” (case during COVID-19: 2019-2020) unit with a like “non-treated” (case before COVID-19: pre-quarantine in 2019) unit to examine changes in pretrial release (i.e. the “,reform” efforts). Analysis includes exploring how pretrial practices have changed and impacted subsequent outcomes, utilizing data graphs to examine whether individuals received a new arrest after release and final sentence decision/length of incarceration, and finally, assessing the impact of the race/ethnicity variable pre and during COVID. The latter will take place by utilizing separate regression models for the two pretrial decision variables, including the following: five pretrial outcome variables and two sentencing decision variables (with race/ethnicity as an independent variable). Based on the impact of the reform, future investigations must consider the effects that presentence incarceration has on defendants of color and equality when informing non-bail release options. Ultimately, this study has the potential to change practice beyond Milwaukee County if the statistics in the Milwaukee County Judicial system showcase racial correlation and causation, which, in turn, may cause other cities to review whether they innately hold racial disparities as well.
