Corrections for Racial Disparities in Law Enforcement

Much empirical analysis has documented racial disparities at the beginning and end stages of criminal cases. However, our understanding about the perpetuation of—and even corrections for—differential outcomes in the process remains less than complete. This Article provides a comprehensive examination of criminal dispositions using all DWI cases in North Carolina from 2001 to 2011, focusing on several major decision points in the process. Starting with pretrial hearings and culminating in sentencing results, we track differences in outcomes by race and gender. Before sentencing, significant gaps emerge in the severity of pretrial release conditions that disadvantage black and Hispanic defendants. Yet when prosecutors decide whether to pursue charges, we observe an initial correction mechanism: Hispanic men are almost two-thirds more likely to have those charges dropped relative to white men. Although few cases survive after the plea bargaining stage, a second correction mechanism arises: Hispanic men are substantially less likely to receive harsher sentences and are sent to jail for significantly less time relative to white men. The first mechanism is based, in part, on prosecutors’ reviewing the strength of the evidence, but much more on declining to invest scarce resources in the pursuit of defendants who fail to appear for trial. The second mechanism seems to follow more directly from judicial discretion to reverse decisions made by law enforcement or prosecutors. We discuss possible explanations for these novel empirical results and review methods for more precisely identifying causal mechanisms in criminal justice

The effects of participation level on recidivism: a study of drug treatment courts using propensity score matching

Abstract Background: Empirical evidence has suggested that drug treatment courts (DTCs) reduce re-arrest rates. However, DTC program completion rates are low and little is known about the effectiveness of lower levels of program participation. Objectives: We examined how DTC program referral, enrollment without completion, and completion, affected re-arrest rates during a two-year follow-up. Research design: We used statewide North Carolina data from criminal courts merged with DTC data. Propensity score matching was used to select comparison groups based on demographic characteristics, criminal histories, and drug of choice (when available). Average treatment effects on the treated were computed. Measures: DTC participation levels included referral without enrollment, (n = 2,174), enrollment without completion (n = 954), and completion (n = 747). Recidivism measured as re-arrest on a substance-related charge, on a violent offense charge not involving an allegation of substance abuse, and on any charge (excluding infractions) was examined by felony and misdemeanor status during a two-year follow-up period

Integrated gene analyses of de novo variants from 46,612 trios with autism and developmental disorders

Most genetic studies consider autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental disorder (DD) separately despite overwhelming comorbidity and shared genetic etiology. Here, we analyzed de novo variants (DNVs) from 15,560 ASD (6,557 from SPARK) and 31,052 DD trios independently and also combined as broader neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) using three models. We identify 615 NDD candidate genes (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.05) supported by ≥1 models, including 138 reaching Bonferroni exome-wide significance (P < 3.64e-7) in all models. The genes group into five functional networks associating with different brain developmental lineages based on single-cell nuclei transcriptomic data. We find no evidence for ASD-specific genes in contrast to 18 genes significantly enriched for DD. There are 53 genes that show mutational bias, including enrichments for missense (n = 41) or truncating (n = 12) DNVs. We also find 10 genes with evidence of male- or female-bias enrichment, including 4 X chromosome genes with significant female burden (DDX3X, MECP2, WDR45, and HDAC8). This large-scale integrative analysis identifies candidates and functional subsets of NDD genes