The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted court operations across the country. In March and April of 2020 “business-as-usual” was upended and the entire court system was forced to respond in an unprecedented way. Using Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing data, we explore the impact that COVID-19 had on sentencing outcomes. Three distinct periods: pre-COVID-19, the onset of COVID-19 during which an emergency judicial order limited court operations, and a period after the order was lifted are defined to compare trends and assess differences. Utilizing the natural experiment created by the pandemic we present a descriptive and multivariate analysis of sentencing practices focused on racial disparities. The paper employs two theoretical frameworks (focal concerns and the liberation hypothesis) to motivate competing expectations regarding sentencing behavior and disparities.

COVID-19 大流行严重影响了全国法院的运作。2020 年 3 月和 4 月，“一切照旧”被颠覆，整个法院系统被迫以前所未有的方式做出反应。我们利用宾夕法尼亚州量刑委员会的数据，探讨了 COVID-19 对量刑结果的影响。定义了三个不同的时期：COVID-19 之前、COVID-19 爆发期间紧急司法命令限制法院运作以及命令解除后的时期，以比较趋势并评估差异。利用大流行造成的自然实验，我们对针对种族差异的量刑实践进行了描述性和多变量分析。