Gatekeepers of Disparities: Variation in Prosecutors’ Effects on Racial Gaps in Incarceration

Emma Harrington and Hannah Shaffer

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2026, vol. 116, 376-381

Abstract: Prosecutors serve as gatekeepers between arrest and sentencing, giving them influence over how racial disparities evolve through the criminal justice system. Using the quasi-random assignment of cases within North Carolina prosecutor offices, we estimate the variation in prosecutors’ impacts on racial disparities in incarceration rates. We find substantial variation: A prosecutor one standard deviation below the mean reduces disparities by 1.3 percentage points—roughly 40% of the unconditional race gap. Black and Democratic prosecutors reduce disparities on average, but most of the variation in prosecutors' disparate impacts exists within race and politics, pointing to other important drivers of heterogeneity.

JEL-codes: H76 J15 J16 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20261049

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