Despite a large and rapidly growing Hispanic population in the United States, few researchers have attempted to examine what happens to Hispanic offenders once they have been released from criminal justice control. The present study helps fill this gap by examining differences in the likelihood of recidivism between White, Black, and Hispanic prison releasees using three different recidivism measures: rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration. The authors use Bureau of Justice Statistics data that track a cohort of offenders for 3 years after their release in 1994 from state and federal prisons. Overall, the study findings show that White releasees have the lowest levels of recidivism and Black releasees have the highest levels of recidivism, net of important legal factors associated with recidivism risk; Hispanic recidivism levels are between those of White and Black releasees. Any conclusions drawn about the relative recidivism risk of Hispanic releasees vis-à-vis Black and White releasees must, however, consider how recidivism is measured. The study finds that Hispanic rearrest and reconviction levels more closely mirror those of Whites, but Hispanic reincarceration levels are more similar to those of Blacks. The authors discuss these findings in light of a growing body of research suggesting that Hispanic defendants may face more punitive outcomes relative to similarly situated White (and even Black) defendants at various stages of the criminal case process because they are perceived as more blameworthy and a greater threat to public safety than other defendants.
most clear and well-researched accounts of the crime and provides the context necessary to understand why Lizzie was acquitted. It was not because the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence or because the case was mishandled by the investigators or the prosecution (although he does identify problems here). Instead, Lizzie Borden was acquitted for the crimes she likely committed because of the social and political climate of the time.The book ends by discussing the life of Lizzie and her sister after the trial. Lizzie was quickly shunned from the same groups that supported her. While not discussed by Conforti directly, this perhaps gives further insight into what the trial was really about. Support for Lizzie was likely less about the belief in her innocence and more about protecting the illusion that someone like her is not capable of such atrocities. Overall, Conforti's eighth book, and second on Lizzie Borden, is a welcome and refreshing addition to literature on Lizzie Borden that captures the relationship between her acquittal and the context in which it took place.
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