US citizens are willing to hand out harsher sentences to juvenile offenders if they are told that the offender is black.
In the study of 735 white Americans, participants were asked to read information about a 14-year-old male with prior convictions who had raped an elderly woman.
Half the participants were told that the offender was black, the other half were told he was white. Participants who were told the offender was black showed a significantly larger amount of support for life without parole sentences.
The research comes as the American Supreme Court considers whether to further limit sentences given to juveniles.
Read more at Stanford University