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Explorations in Ethnic Studies EXPLORATIONS IN ETHNIC STUDIES The Journal of the National Association for Ethnic Studies Volume 16, Number 2 July 1993 Table of Contents Editor's Note Miguel A. Carranza ....................... ... ............... ....... ......... ...... ...... ... ............ ... ............ i Sentencing Disparities in Yakima County: The Washington Sentencing Reform Act Revisited David L. Hood and Ruey-Lin Lin ... ...... ...... ...... ............. .... ....... ..... .................. 99-114 Recognizing the Enemy: Rap Music In the Wake of the Los Angeles Riots Theresa A. Martinez ........ .... .............................. .... .... ........... ..... ......... ...... ....... 115-127 Age and Ethnic Variations in Attitudes Towards Older Persons, Family and Filial Obligations Suzanne T. Ortega and John Shafer ........... ............... ... ........... ....................... 129-146 Intermarriage and Ethnicity: Punjabi Mexican Americans, Mexican Japanese, and Filipino Americans Karen B. Leonard .......... .................... ........... ................ ... ................ ..... ....... ... 147-163 Language Policy and Language Repression: The Case of Spanish Basques and Mexican Americans Deborah Faltis .... ........... .............. ... .......... .................. .................. ......... .... ...... 165-178 Abstracts from the Twenty-First Annual Conference - "Race, Class, and Gender" ...................... ................................................ ... 179-218 Cumulative Index by Author, Volumes 10-16 (1987-1993) .................... 219-226 Cumulative Index by Title, Volumes 10-16 (1987-1993) .... ................... .. 226-233 Contributors ... ................................... ........ .... ........... .................................. 235-236 Editor's Note This issue of the journal contains a variety of articles which are related yet diverse in their focus on topics concerning ethnic studies. In the first article, David Hood and Ruey-Lin Lin extend previous research on sentencing disparities in the state of Washington for Hispanics, Native Americans and Whites. Even after the creation of the Sentencing Reform Act, a decade later, sentencing disparities exist. In her research on the Los Angeles riots of 1992, Theresa Martinez analyzes the role of rap music as being a reflection and/or cause of inner city despair, hopelessness and anger. Suzanne Ortega and John Shafer investigate ethnic group differences regarding familism, filial responsibility and attitudes toward the elderly. Their findings suggest the existence of important cultural differences among various ethnic groups, although not consistent with common depictions of traditional ethnic "familism." In a related study, Karen Leonard examines the relationship between intermarriage and ethnicity in Punjabi Mexican Ameri­ can, Mexican Japanese and Filipino American biethnic communities. She concludes that second generation biethnic members evidenced considerable difficulty regarding ethnic identity and cultural pluralism, especially when impacted by the continued influx of "new" immigrants. I am pleased to give special recognition to the article by Deborah Faltis. Faltis is the inaugural recipient of a first place award in the newly established NAES Student Paper Competition. Her paper on language policy and lan­ guage repression compares the experiences of Spanish Basques and Mexican Americans. Her study highlights the stifling impact the "English Only" Movement and other similar organizations have had on bilingual education and multicultural education efforts. The Association hopes other under­ graduate and graduate students will participate in future annual Student Paper Competitions. We have included in this issue abstracts from our most recent national conference. This will be the last time we will include a collection of conference abstracts. Hereafter, the conference abstracts will be printed and made available at the conference where they are actually being presented. The new procedure makes the abstracts more readily available and, hope­ fully, more useful to conference participants in a timely manner. Finally, this issue includes a cumulative index for Volumes 10-16 (1987 -1993) of Explora­ tion in Ethnic Studies. It has been some time since such an index of the journal was compiled. It is our intention to continue to publish an annual or biannual cumulative index in the future. Miguel A. Carranza University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sentencing Disparities in Yakima County: The Washington Sentencing Reform Act Revisited David L. Hood Montana State University - Billings Ruey-Lin Lin Montana State University - Billings This study expands upon an earlier exploration of sentenc­ ing disparity in the Yakima County, Washington judicial system. The Sentencing Reform Act was adopted in 1981, becoming effective in 1984, to end inequitable sentences imposed on individuals who are convicted of similar of­ fenses. This work adds to the original study by including an investigation of "exceptional" sentences and "offense type" crime. Independent variables are defendants' ethnicity (Hispanic, Native American, and White), age, and gender. The period of investigation includes fiscal years 1986 through 1991. Data was provided to the researchers by the Washington Sentencing Guidelines Commission and was processed using a difference of means test (ANOVA pro­ gram). The findings suggest that sentencing disparity, while not being widespread, does persist nearly a decade after the Sentencing Reform Act was adopted. Hispanic defendants who had no prior criminal history were apt to receive disproportionately more severe sentences for simi­ lar crimes than Native Americans or whites. INTRODUCTION An important issue confronting the criminal justice system is sentencing disparity. Sentencing disparity involves inequitable sanc­ tions imposed on individuals who have committed similar offenses. These inequalities in sentencing patterns have allegedly centered around group differences and may reflect an ethnic or racial bias. Explorations in Ethnic Studies Vol.16, No.2 (July 1993): 99 -1 1 4. Explorations in Ethnic Studies Numerous studies1 have explored this issue, sparking considerable controversy. Many of these early works report findings which support the view that sentencing bias against non-whites exist.2 Neubauer3 suggests courts in the South strongly discriminated against African Americans-evident from a 70% execution rate of all prison­ ers since 1930. For cases of rape, 90% of all prisoners executed were Black. Application of the death penalty and racial discrimination was recently reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in McCleskey v. Kemp (1987). A 5-4 majority decided Georgia's capital punishment system was constitutional notwithstanding empirical evidence that indicated killers of White people are much more likely to receive the death penalty than killer of Blacks.4 Aside from capital punishment cases, Welch, Spohn, and Gruhl find in their comparative study of six local jurisdictions that Black males experience significant inequality at the conviction and sentencing stage of the judicial process, although the level is less than that which one would expect in society at large.S Kempf and Austin6 argue that sentencing disparity is neither restricted to the South, nor limited to capital punishment cases. In their analysis of Pennsylvania data for 1977, sentencing disparity was observed in urban, suburban, and rural areas after controlling for prior record, and using tests of statistical significance and measures of association. Results indicated a greater disparity in suburban areas with a small minority population, but within easy commuting distance from a large African American population.7 Other researchers have focused on non-Black minority groups. LaFree,8 in a study of Hispanics and court processing in El Paso, observes that ethnicity has an indirect effect through bail status. Moreover, being Hispanic is the single best predictor of guiltyverdicts in El Paso. Bynum,9 in a study of Wisconsin Native American defendants, discovers they are more likely to be sent to prison for offenses for which Whites receive non-prison sanctions. Addition­ ally, when Whites are sent to prison for similar offenses, they are more likely to receive parole than Native Americans. The racial characteristic of the judge has also been found to impact sentencing disparity. Welch, Combs, and Gruhl10 in a study of judges and sentencing reveals that while no significant differences were found between White and Black judges when sentenCing Black defendants, African American judges were more likely to sentence White defendants to prison than were White judges.ll SentenCing disparity has been observed in Washington. Accord­ ing to a study conducted by the Institute for Public Policy and Management, University of Washington (1986), during the 1980-82 period Blacks were nine times more likely to be imprisoned than 100 Hood and Lin-Sentencing Disparities in Yakima County Whites, Hispanics one and one-half times more likely, and Native Americans three times more likely. The study fu rther indicates that minorities are: more likely to be "charged with serious an d violent offenses," "more likely to be detained pr ior to tr ial, " "less likely to plead gu ilty, " and "more likely to be sentenced to pr ison."12 In an effort to redu ce sentencing bias, am ong other goals, states have been moving away from indeterminate sentencing statutes which provide considerable sentencing discretion to determinate
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