The Intersection of Victims' and Offenders' Sex and Race/Ethnicity on Prosecutorial Decisions for Violent Crimes

The research considers the influence of extralegal factors, particularly interactions among victim/offender relationship, sex, and race/ethnicity, on prosecutors' decisions to dismiss criminal charges, plea, or proceed to trial for violent crimes. Minority males, particularly black males, were less likely to receive a plea (versus a trial) regardless of the victim's sex or race/ethnicity. Minority males were also less likely to receive a plea if the victim was white. Alternatively, in prosecutorial dismissals, black and Hispanic males were treated no more harshly than were any of the race/ethnicity-sex categories examined. The findings suggest that failure to consider the sex and race/ethnicity of both defendants and victims may result in inaccurate conclusions about how these variables affect prosecutorial decisions.