Shared Race/Ethnicities of Prosecutor and Defendant: A Test of Competing Hypotheses Predicting Case Outcomes

• Author: Lin Liu
• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Date: 01 June 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/08874034221083264
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/08874034221083264

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2022, Vol. 33(5) 480 –506

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/08874034221083264

journals.sagepub.com/home/cjp

Article

Shared Race/Ethnicities of

Prosecutor and Defendant:

A Test of Competing

Hypotheses Predicting

Case Outcomes

Lin Liu1

Abstract

Diversifying prosecutors’ offices and hiring more minority prosecutors have been

touted as promising initiatives to address racial disparities in prosecution. However,

two theoretical perspectives—social identity and internalized racism—delineate

contradictory predictions on the punitiveness of minority prosecutors. The social

identity perspective maintains that minority prosecutors are likely to seek better

outcomes for defendants of their own race/ethnicity, whereas internalized racism

proposes that minority prosecutors will be punitive to defendants of their own race/

ethnicity. The present study uses the most recent data from a large urban jurisdiction

to test whether the effect of shared minority identities between prosecutors and

defendants on case outcomes is consistent with the social identity or internalized

racism perspectives. Results suggest that minority prosecutors tend to show leniency

to defendants of their own race/ethnicity; however, they are punitive toward minority

defendants of a different race/ethnicity. Policy implications and directions for future

research are also discussed.

Keywords

the prosecutor–defendant racial–ethnic dyad, case diversion, case dismissal, charge

reduction

1Florida International University, Miami, USA

Corresponding Author:

Lin Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida International

University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.

Email: linliu@fiu.edu

1083264CJPXXX10.1177/08874034221083264Criminal Justice Policy ReviewLiu

research-article2022

Liu 481

Introduction

Studies exploring the link between court actors’ characteristics and racial disparity in

judicial processing have primarily focused on judges. Although this focus is under-

standable, it is limited. Losing sight of the role of prosecutors in the judicial process

will substantially limit our understanding of racial disparities in punishment (Rakoff,

2016). Currently, 95% of criminal cases are pled out. Prosecutors decide whether to

dismiss cases, file charges, drop/increase charges, and engage in plea bargaining as

cases move toward trial (Liu et al., 2020; Piehl & Bushway, 2007; Shermer & Johnson,

2010; Ulmer et al., 2007). In plea negotiations, prosecutors have broad discretion over

the type of plea offer to be delivered to defendants (Kutateladze, Andiloro, et al., 2014;

Kutateladze et al., 2020).

Currently, diversifying the demographic pool of police officers, judges, and prose-

cutors has been strongly proposed as a solution to address the persistent racial dispar-

ity in the criminal justice system (Bazelon & Krinsky, 2018; Nichanian, 2020). In

prosecutorial reform, some observers argue that an increased minority presence in the

district attorney’s or state attorney’s office will attenuate racial disparities (Migoya &

Schmelzer, 2020; Wolfe, 2020). This idea is based on the rationale that minority pros-

ecutors may be more sensitive to system-wide racial disparities in sentencing and are

therefore least likely to use racial stereotypes to impute the dangerousness and blame-

worthiness of defendants (King et al., 2010; Walker & Barrow, 1985).

However, some scholars hold reservations about the claimed link between recruit-

ing minority justice actors and equitable treatment of minority citizens (e.g., Brunson

& Gau, 2015). Although studies on disparate patterns of practices across White and

minority prosecutors are rather sparse, past policing studies show that compared with

White officers, minority officers tend to be harsher on minority citizens (Brown &

Frank, 2007; Sun & Payne, 2004; Weitzer, 2000).

To test the link between diversifying prosecutors’ offices and alleviation of racial

disparities, scientific studies on a prosecutor’s race/ethnicity vis-à-vis case outcomes

are sorely needed. Compared with a massive body of studies on judges’ decision-

making, limited research attention has been devoted to examining prosecutors’ charac-

teristics, especially their racial identities and decision-making. There has been a

scarcity of data linking prosecutorial attributes and case outcomes, which has posed a

challenge for researchers (B. D. Johnson et al., 2014). The present study uses the most

recent data from a large urban prosecutorial office to explore how minority race/ethnic

identities of prosecutors and defendants are associated with three case outcomes,

namely, prosecutorial dismissal, case diversion, and charge reduction, which are

highly consequential and fully controlled by prosecutors.

In addition to reviewing the aforementioned understudied but important questions

in criminal punishment, the present study also contributes to the literature theoreti-

cally. Prior tests exploring how judges’ and police officers’ race/ethnicity affect their

decision-making are primarily empirical and atheoretical. Limited attention has been

given to applying a theoretical framework to explain this aspect of criminal justice

practice. This study tests the applicability of two theoretical perspectives in