Official Reactions to Hispanic Defendants in the Southwest

Despite a long-term interest in the treatment of minorities by the legal system, few criminologists have specifically considered the case of Hispanics. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and to what extent criminal justice outcomes and their determinants differ for Hispanics and non-Hispanics in two southwestern jurisdictions. An analysis of 755 defendants whose most serious charge was robbery or burglary showed major differences between the two jurisdictions. There was no evidence of unfavorable Hispanic treatment in Tucson. Being Hispanic had no effect on the type of adjudication received, verdicts, or sentence severity. Tucson Hispanics received more favorable pretrial release decisions than whites. In contrast, Hispanic defendants in El Paso received less favorable pretrial release outcomes than white defendants, were more likely to be convicted in jury trials, and received more severe sentences when they were found guilty by trial. Interviews suggested that treatment differences in Tucson and El Paso may be due to differences between established Hispanic citizens and less well-established Mexican-American citizens and Mexican nationals, different mechanisms for providing attorneys to indigent defendants, and differential language difficulties in the two jurisdictions.