Colorism in Punishment among Hispanics in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Although scholars have documented skin tone stratification in punishment and among Hispanics in some domains, no study has examined colorism among Hispanics across multiple stages of the criminal justice process. By linking official court records and mugshot photographs of a sample of 6,523 adults arrested in Miami-Dade County between 2012 and 2015, we examine whether Hispanics are subjected to colorism, and the role of selection in shaping the association between skin color and punishment at sentencing. We find colorism in conviction and incarceration and show that selection processes partly account for some of the association between skin tone and punishment at sentencing. These findings are driven by Hispanics who are categorized as Black. Given the demographic importance of Hispanics to the future of the United States, our investigation suggests that skin stratification will continue to be an important source of inequality in American society.