Judicial Scarring

Abstract

I document that experienced decision makers can be influenced by irrelevant events in a high stakes setting, felony sentencing in Cook County. Using a stacked difference-in-differences design, I estimate that judges hand down sentences that are 13% longer after sentencing a first degree murder. The effect is twice as large for defendants who resemble the murderer along the dimensions of race and charge severity. The bias affects 6% of defendants on an ongoing basis and temporarily increases the Black sentencing penalty by 91%.

Keywords: Anchoring, Behavioral Bias, Judges, Salience, Sentencing, Sequential Decisions

JEL Classification: D91, J15, K14