In Module 8, you interacted with content describing the nature and extent of racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes in the United States. One primary strategy that has been widely implemented to reduce sentencing disparities (among other goals) involves the use of sentencing guidelines. This application exercise focuses on the use and application of sentencing guidelines to address racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes. Before completing the assignment, please watch this cheesy ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uYTipOGldw&t=17s) that explains how the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines are structured and applied. To complete Part 1 (below), you will need to refer to the sentencing table from the USSC Sentencing Guidelines.
Part 1: Using the provided sentencing table please identify the recommended sentence range (in months) for the four offenses (a-d) listed in the table below
Part 2: Based on what you have learned in this module, why do you think sentencing guidelines have reduced but not eliminated racial and ethnic disparities see (https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/demographic-differences-sentencing) to support this statement) in sentencing ? (Hint: two primary explanations involve implicit bias by judges and the application of “race-neutral” factors). Finally, what else, if anything, do you think can be done to address this issue?
