Hypothetical reasons why this may be the case: 1. The most egregiously racist judges probably work in districts which they rarely encounter minorities. 2. Reg

Hypothetical reasons why this may be the case: 1. The most egregiously racist judges probably work in districts which they rarely encounter minorities. 2. Regions with large minority populations have to deal with much more crime in general, so may have lighter sentences for equally severe crimes. 3. Minorities are more likely to plead out and never go to trial, skewing sample size. To be clear, I doubt that state judges are better than federal ones. After all, criminal justice corruption in smaller towns in America is staggering. Not too long ago, a judge was indicted for being bribed by the owners of a jail to hand down severe sentences to minority offenders.