ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which differences exist in sentencing outcomes for American Indians and Whites within five states: Arizona, California, Minnesota, North Carolina, and North Dakota. After reviewing the available literature on the differential legal treatment of American Indians, it examines differences between Indians and Whites for two adjudication outcomes within separate felony crime categories: sentence received for new state prison admissions and percent of sentence served for new state prison releases. American Indians have long been neglected in research examining the differential or discriminatory application of the law in the United States. Focusing on arrest and disposition rather than sentencing, Ronald Williams found in his analysis that American Indians were treated more severely than were Whites. For the crimes of homicide and sexual assault, Whites and American Indians received comparable sentences. Arizona data reveal that White inmates received longer sentences than did American Indian inmates.
