Abstract
This paper explores the possibility that criminal court judges engage in discriminatory sentencing in response to judicial elections. I use a research design that (1) distinguishes between the effects of judicial elections versus preferences and (2) separates the effects of judicial elections versus the elections of other public officials. I find that incarceration rates rise by 2.4 percentage points in the final six months of the election cycle, but only for black, not white felons. These effects are more pronounced in districts where the median voter is expected to have higher levels of racial prejudice toward blacks.
- Received April 2015.
- Accepted May 2016.
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