In my opinion, the most problematic sentencing disparity in need of attention by judicial agencies is the racial disparity. The problem of Blacks and Hispanics being convicted and receiving prison sentences more often than whites is widely known and present in the modern US judicial system.
According to King and Light (2019), three significant factors are the core reason for problems with racial disparities in American sentencing. First, the statistical racial differences in offending could mean that blacks are more likely to be sentenced to prison terms based on their previous criminal record due to higher offending rates. However, in their article, King and Light (2019) draw meta-analysis results from previous studies, which show that after comparing the cases of serious criminal offenses and criminal history, blacks are sentenced more harshly than whites.
The next factor focuses on ‘enactment of ostensibly race-neutral laws,’ with disparate racial impacts (King & Light, 2019). As an example, the authors draw the case of disparity between federal sentences for crack cocaine and powdered cocaine offenses that promotes unwarranted race-based disparities. The last core reason for the disparities is the unequal racial treatment by the justice system as a whole. To present the factor, King and Light (2019) include data from statistics that show that Hispanic males are most likely to be incarcerated among young people, and black males receive the longest prison sentences. On the other hand, minority females receive significantly less punishment than young white females, emphasizing the racial sentencing disparity problem.
Reference
King, R.D., & Light, M.T. (2019). Have racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing declined? Crime and Justice, 48,1-73.