RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 County Dependence on Monetary Sanctions: Implications for Women’s Incarceration
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 157
OP 172
DO 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.2.08
VO 8
IS 2
A1 Kate K. O’Neill
A1 Tyler Smith
A1 Ian Kennedy
YR 2022
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/8/2/157.abstract
AB Although men’s incarceration rates have declined in the United States, women’s have stayed steady and even risen in some areas. At the same time, courts have increased their use of monetary sanctions, especially for low-level offenses. We propose that women’s incarceration trends can be partially explained by county dependence on monetary sanctions as a source of revenue. We suggest that monetary sanctions expose female defendants to processes that increase their likelihood of incarceration, especially in counties more reliant on monetary sanctions as a source of revenue, and where women’s poverty rates are high. Using data from Washington State, we find county dependence on monetary sanctions is positively associated with rates of women sentenced to incarceration. Although rural counties’ rates are higher, they depend on monetary sanctions no more than nonrural counties do.