ABSTRACT
In a society in which the symbol of justice is blindfolded to indicate that all are equal before the law, the discriminatory imposition of the law is an issue that strikes at the heart of assumptions concerning the nature of justice. Shaped by Jeffersonian notions of natural and inalienable rights, definitions of justice are founded upon ideals of parity, fairness, and impartiality. The actions of the criminal justice system, however, do not always live up to these ideals. Justice, it seems, is not always blind. This is especially true where minority groups are concerned. Spurred in large part by the extreme overrepresentation of minority groups in prison (see Blumstein, 1982; Langan, 1985; Tonry, 1994, 1995), there has been a long history of research investigating the possible discriminatory applications of the law. The phrase discriminatory application of the law refers to the differential treatment of individuals by official agents of justice based on legally irrelevant or extra-legal characteristics such as race, socio-economic status, and gender. Of these extra-legal factors, race has emerged in the literature as one of the most important factors that influence how the law is applied. For example, there is evidence that, in different jurisdictions and at different stages, African Americans are more likely to be detained, arrested, tried, found guilty, sentenced to longer terms, sentenced to death, and serve more of their sentences than Caucasians (for reviews, see Conley, 1994; D'Allessio and Stolzenberg, 1993; Kleck, 1981; Mann, 1993; Petersillia, 1983; Pope and Feyerheim, 1990a, 1990b).
