Gender Equality: Women Serving Less Time Than Men for Identical Crimes

Running Head: GENDER EQUALITY

Gender Equality: Women Serving Less Time than Men for Identical Crimes

Abstract The Federal criminal sentencing guideline which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 required that males and females who commit the same crime and have the same prior criminal history be sentenced equally (Oaxaca, Sarnikar, & Sorensen, 2007). By using data obtained from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, we examine the existence of any gender-based bias in criminal sentencing decisions (Oaxaca, Sarnikar, & Sorensen, 2007). We treat the crime as the independent variable, and the time served as the dependent variable that will determine these truths. Additionally, we control the variables through examining random cases that were identical in offense type and prior criminal history. If time served is not equal amongst both male and female, stricter policies should be enforced in order to have fairness in sentencing.

Gender Equality: Women Serving Less Time than Men for Identical Crimes
Introduction
Women are serving lighter sentences than men for identical crimes; figures retrieved by the Department of Justice showed that being male increases a murders chance of receiving a death sentence by more than 20%. Yet very few women even serve time for crimes such as rape of minors. By looking at the state sentencing commission records, it can be proven that women serve shorter sentences. Can tougher policies be enforced for these discrepancies in sentencing? If it is evident and has been for years, why is there nothing being done about this issue? While many argue that men commit more aggressive crimes than women, studies can prove that some women commit these same heinous crimes. Unfortunately, leniency for men seems to have no place in the criminal justice system, especially when it comes to the murdering of a spouse. Over the past several years, some women have been allowed to serve little to no time at all for the murder

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