If you’re a criminal defendant, it may help—a lot—to be a woman. At least, that’s what Prof. Sonja Starr’s research on federal criminal cases suggests. Prof. Starr’s recent paper, “Estimating Gender Disparities in Federal Criminal Cases,” looks closely at a large dataset of federal cases, and reveals some significant findings. After controlling for the arrest offense, criminal history, and other prior characteristics, “men receive 63% longer sentences on average than women do,” and “[w]omen are…twice as likely to avoid incarceration if convicted.” This gender gap is about six times as large as the racial disparity that Prof. Starr found in another recent paper.
Following Instapundit’s link to the article (emphasis mine):
Prof. Starr emphasized that it is not possible to “prove” gender discrimination with data like hers, because it is always possible that two seemingly similar cases could differ in ways not captured by the data. Given the size of the apparent gender gap and the richness of the dataset (which allowed many alternative explanations to be explored), however, Starr believes that there is “pretty good reason to suspect that disparate treatment may be one of the causes of this gap.”
Undoubtably, this is true. But I can’t help but wonder, when will the wage gap crowd admit this about their data? Women not choosing the same jobs as men could possibly be an important fact.
On another note, Rollo Tomassi finished his second book, The Rational Male ~ Preventive Medicine.
indeed!
of course you can use the data to prove discrimination, just not against the privileged
“when will the wage gap crowd admit this about their data?” 1. They never will, and 2. There is no actual, legitimate “wage gap.” Since 1963 is has been illegal in the US to pay men and women differently for the same work. It simply doesn’t happen, and hasn’t happened for quite some time. It’s extremely easy to prove no wage gap exists between men and women. Just try and name one single specific example, i.e. company name, job held, and name of man and woman who are getting paid unequal. In a country of 320 million, if any such wage disparity even remotely existed, many could give first hand examples, but they can’t, nor can anyone in the media or politics give a specific example. How odd is that? Except of course, if no such examples actually exist.
There is no actual, legitimate “wage gap.”
Oh absolutely, I agree. Thomas Sowell dismantled the “wage gap” years ago. When women who choose not to work are taken into account and when women who choose lower paying (and safer) jobs than men and you take these as an average it is going to be a dishonest “gap”. A gap of choice, which hilariously counteracts the whole “choice” nonsense feminists tout.