Equality under the Law

The author received his A.B. in psychology from Wayne State University in 1966, his M.A. in social psychology from the same institution in 1967. He also holds a 1968 master's degree in criminology from the University of California (Berlleley), at which university he is presently a candidate for a doctorate in criminology. At the School of Criminology he has been affiliated with three research projects, the most recent of which deals with drug use in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco. His doctoral dissertation concerns personality attributes of self-reported delinquents. With increasing frequency the question has been raised as to whether or not defendants receive differential judicial treatment as a function of their race. The present article reviews the empirical studies that have addressed themselves to this question and attempts to reconcile their divergent findings in the light of temporal, geographical, and methodological variability across studies.