Brokers of Bias in the Criminal Justice System: Do Prosecutors Compound or Attenuate Racial Disparities Introduced by Police?
研究检察官在刑事司法系统中如何影响警察引入的种族差异，利用北卡罗来纳州的量刑断点数据，发现黑人被告最初较少但最终更多受益于避免强制监禁的指控减少，这一逆转由警察发起的逮捕驱动。
Abstract In criminal cases, prosecutors have the discretion to adjust arresting officers’ charges and so can offset racial disparities introduced by police. Yet prior research suggests that prosecutors instead compound earlier disparities. We investigate prosecutors’ impacts on disparities using sentencing discontinuities in North Carolina, where defendants with slightly longer criminal histories face mandatory prison. Prosecutors can sidestep these mandatory-prison laws by reducing qualifying defendants’ charges. Between 1995 and 2019, Black defendants were initially less likely — but ultimately became more likely — to benefit from charge reductions that avoid mandatory prison. This reversal is driven by arrests typically initiated by police.