Bias On The Bench: How Black Defendants Get Harsher Sentences For The Same Crime

If two defendants were the same age, committed the same crime, had similar backgrounds and committed those crimes in the same state and county — earning the same “sentencing score,” you would expect they would get the same sentence. In Florida, your sentence can vary dramatically for no other reason than your race. The Herald Tribune put together a study to show empirically what systemic racism in our Justice system looks like. Benjamin Dixon discusses this.