Racial disparity in sentencing: reflections on the Hood study

Roger Hood, in his 1992 report on race and criminal sentencing, found that racial factors affected sentencing in the UK's West Midlands courts. Further analysis confirms the statistical validity of his findings. Hood's report is most noteworthy for clarifying that racial bias in the criminal justice system may be instigated by policies enforced prior to the sentencing procedure, such as strictly enforcing laws that criminalize small street sales of marijuana and seeking plea bargains. Blacks are more likely to be street level drug sellers than whites, while whites plead guilty more often than blacks.