According to zatz, the issue of in sentencing "may well have been the major research inquiry for studies of sentencing in the 1970s and 1980s."

According to zatz, the issue of racial disparity in sentencing "may well have been the major research inquiry for studies of sentencing in the 1970s and 1980s." Racial disparity refers to a difference that may or may not be related to discrimination. Criminal justice experts distinguish between legal and extralegal factors to explain racial disparities in criminal justice