{"title":"The Effects of the Fair Sentencing Act 2010 on Sentencing Outcomes for Females Convicted of Cocaine Offenses","authors":"Makeela J. Wells","doi":"10.1177/15570851221098034","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Initiatives have been implemented to reduce the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The current study investigated the impact of the Fair Sentencing Act 2010 (FSA) on sentencing outcomes for females convicted of federal cocaine offenses. Specifically, the study examined the influence of race, ethnicity, and drug-related factors on presentence detention, downward departures, and sentence length before and after FSA. Using federal sentencing data, results revealed a substantial decrease in the number of crack cocaine offenses and average sentence length after FSA. Additionally, results revealed that there were racial and ethnic differences in sentencing outcomes.","PeriodicalId":51587,"journal":{"name":"Feminist Criminology","volume":"17 1","pages":"514 - 540"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Feminist Criminology","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851221098034","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Initiatives have been implemented to reduce the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The current study investigated the impact of the Fair Sentencing Act 2010 (FSA) on sentencing outcomes for females convicted of federal cocaine offenses. Specifically, the study examined the influence of race, ethnicity, and drug-related factors on presentence detention, downward departures, and sentence length before and after FSA. Using federal sentencing data, results revealed a substantial decrease in the number of crack cocaine offenses and average sentence length after FSA. Additionally, results revealed that there were racial and ethnic differences in sentencing outcomes.
期刊介绍:
The main aim of Feminist Criminology is to focus on research related to women, girls and crime. The scope includes research on women working in the criminal justice profession, women as offenders and how they are dealt with in the criminal justice system, women as victims, and theories and tests of theories related to women and crime. The feminist critique of criminology incorporates a perspective that the paths to crime differ for males and females, thus research that uses sex as a control variable often fails to illuminate the factors that predict female criminality. This journal will highlight research that takes a perspective designed to demonstrate the gendered nature of crime and responses to crime.