Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP18083
Authors: Anna Bindler; Randi Hjalmarsson; Stephen Machin; Melissa Rubio-Ramos
Abstract: Using data on 100 years of 19th century criminal trials at London’s Old Bailey, this paper offers clear evidence of disparate treatment of Irish-named defendants and victims by English juries. We measure surname Irishness and Englishness using place of birth in the 1881 census. Irish-named defendants are 11% less likely to plea, 3% more likely to be convicted by the jury, and 16% less likely to receive a jury recommendation for mercy. These disparities are: (i) largest for violent crimes and for defendants with more distinctive Irish surnames; (ii) robust to case characteristic controls and proxies for signals associated with Irish surnames (social class, Irish county of origin, criminality); (iii) particularly visible for Irish defendants in cases with English victims; and (iv) spill-over onto English-named defendants with Irish codefendants. Disparate treatment is first visible in the 1830s, after which it grows, then persists through to the end of the century. In particular, the gap in jury conviction rates became larger during the twenty years after the Irish Potato Famine-induced migration to London. We do not find evidence, however, that the first bombing campaign of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (in 1867 and the 1880s) further exacerbated these disparities.
Keywords: Irish; Crime; Criminal Law; Discrimination; Economic History
JEL Codes: K42; K14; J15; N33; N93
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Irish-named defendants (K49) | disparities largest for violent crimes (K42) |
| Irish-named defendants (K49) | disparities pronounced for cases involving English victims (J15) |
| Irish co-defendants (K49) | English-named defendants more likely to be convicted (K14) |
| disparate treatment (J71) | first evident in the 1830s (N91) |
| disparate treatment (J71) | grew larger after the Irish potato famine (N94) |
| Irish-named defendants (K49) | less likely to plead (K41) |
| Irish-named defendants (K49) | more likely to be convicted by a jury (K40) |
| Irish-named defendants (K49) | less likely to receive a jury recommendation for mercy (K40) |