First, there are disparities in the raw numbers of sentenced individuals. How many men and women face criminal sentencing in proportion to their representation in the population? This is a complex question as it requires some assessment of criminality, arrest rates, and prosecutorial decisions for me and women offenders. Second, disparity studies must also consider the likelihood of incarceration based on gender. That is to say, even when women do appear before a sentencing court, to what degree are they ore likely to receive probationary or other alternate sentences, such as home confinement, in lieu of jail or prison sentences. The third type of disparity, sentence severity, is the type of disparity critics most commonly consider. Sentence severity considers that some groups of incarcerated defendants receive higher sentences than others for committing similar crimes. The quantitative element of sentence severity is the easiest to measure; however, other factors are critical barometers of severity. These factors include the security level of the institution, the institution’s distance from the defendants’ home and relatives, programming opportunities, and prison violence. These factors are critical barometers of severity, but few scholars take such factors into account when considering disparity. Considering the three types of sentencing disparities mention earlier with regards to women. First, there is a great deal of evidence regarding the number of women facing criminal sentencing as compared to the number of men. Based on federal statistics, which are mostly reliable attainable, the gap between the numbers of male and female offenders is sizeable and that in 2008-the most recent year which figures are available of the total 76,678 offenders sentenced in the federal courts 87.2% (63,515) were men, and 12.8%
First, there are disparities in the raw numbers of sentenced individuals. How many men and women face criminal sentencing in proportion to their representation in the population? This is a complex question as it requires some assessment of criminality, arrest rates, and prosecutorial decisions for me and women offenders. Second, disparity studies must also consider the likelihood of incarceration based on gender. That is to say, even when women do appear before a sentencing court, to what degree are they ore likely to receive probationary or other alternate sentences, such as home confinement, in lieu of jail or prison sentences. The third type of disparity, sentence severity, is the type of disparity critics most commonly consider. Sentence severity considers that some groups of incarcerated defendants receive higher sentences than others for committing similar crimes. The quantitative element of sentence severity is the easiest to measure; however, other factors are critical barometers of severity. These factors include the security level of the institution, the institution’s distance from the defendants’ home and relatives, programming opportunities, and prison violence. These factors are critical barometers of severity, but few scholars take such factors into account when considering disparity. Considering the three types of sentencing disparities mention earlier with regards to women. First, there is a great deal of evidence regarding the number of women facing criminal sentencing as compared to the number of men. Based on federal statistics, which are mostly reliable attainable, the gap between the numbers of male and female offenders is sizeable and that in 2008-the most recent year which figures are available of the total 76,678 offenders sentenced in the federal courts 87.2% (63,515) were men, and 12.8%