Defendants accused of crimes against white victims often face harsher penalties than those against non-white victims. This is known as what?

• A. Civil disobedience
• B. Prosecutorial discretion
• C. Social marginality
• D. Race-of-victim effect

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is that sentencing can vary based on the victim’s race, with crimes against white victims often leading to harsher penalties than crimes against non-white victims, even when the offenses are similar. This phenomenon is known as the race-of-victim effect. It captures how biases and perceptions about victims can influence punishment, independent of the crime’s severity or the offender’s history. Researchers have found that, after controlling for factors like the type of crime and prior record, white-victim cases tend to yield longer sentences or tougher outcomes, reflecting deeper concerns about fairness in the justice system. Understanding this term helps explain why disparities in sentencing persist and why reforms focus on reducing bias in evaluation, charging, and sentencing. The other options don’t describe this specific pattern: civil disobedience is about protest through violating laws, prosecutorial discretion refers to the decision to charge or pursue cases (not the disparity pattern itself), and social marginality concerns general social positioning rather than a crime-by-crime sentencing effect based on victim race.