Research on sentencing [electronic resource] : Volume II : the search for reform / Alfred Blumstein ... [et al.], editors ; Panel on Sentencing Research, Committee on Research on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council Staff, Corporate Author.

Contributor:

National Research Council (U.S.)

Blumstein, Alfred.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sentences (Criminal procedure)--United States.

Sentences (Criminal procedure).

Sentences (Criminal procedure)--United States--States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1983-

Language Note:

English

Contents:

Research on Sentencing

Copyright

Contents

Preface

1-Making Sense of Sentencing-A Review and Critique of Sentencing Research

TWO INCIPIENT THEORIES OF SENTENCING

DEFINITIONAL PROBLEMS IN SENTENCING RESEARCH

METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN SENTENCING RESEARCH

Alternative Measures of Sentence Severity

Sampling Problems

Measurement of Legitimized Influences on Criminal Sentencing

Measurement of Nonlegitimized Influences on Sentencing

Measurement of Contextual Effects

THE PROBLEM OF CUMULATION

RACE AND SENTENCING

Clarke and Koch (1977)

Gibson (1978)

Hagan and Bernstein (1979)

Kelly (1976)

LaFree (1980)

Lizotte (1978)

Myers (1979)

Pope (1975)

Thomson and Zingraff (1981)

Unnever, Frazier, and Henretta (1980)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

2-Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System-A Critical Appraisal of the Literature

INTRODUCTION

(1) The Absence of Formal Models of Processing Decisions in the Criminal Justice System

(2) Sample Selection Biases Resulting from Screening and Processing Decisions

(3) Use of Arbitrary Scales to Measure Qualitatively Different Dispositions

ORGANIZATION OF THE PAPER

THE ANALYSIS OF BINARY VARIABLES

SELECTION

Selection Bias

Selection Bias at Different Processing Stages of the Criminal Justice System

Procedures to Deal with Selection Bias

A MODEL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Background Discussion of the Model

Trial and Sentencing

Plea Bargaining

The Decision to Charge

The Model of the Decision to Prosecute, Plea Bargaining, and Conviction and Sentencing

REVIEW OF SELECTED STUDIES

Sample Selection Bias

Mixing Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions

Mixing Outcomes

GENERALIZED MODELS OF SENTENCING

Two Models of Sentencing Decisions

Latent Variable Model of Sentencing.

An Alternative Model of the Sentencing Decision

Modeling Indeterminate Sentences

EXPERIMENTS IN SENTENCING RESEARCH

CONCLUSIONS

Appendix

NOTES

3-The Role of Extralegal Factors in Determining Criminal Case Disposition

EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF DISCRIMINATION IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Case Disposition and Sentencing Studies

(1) Seriousness of the Offense

(2) Prior Record

(3) Type of Legal Representation

(4) Release on Bail

(5) Type of Conviction

(6) Miscellaneous Factors

(7) Discriminatory or Extralegal Factors

The Conviction Process

The Plea Decision

Release on Bail

Setting of Bail

Choice of Legal Representation

The Charge Decision

The Decision to Prosecute

Summary of the Major Findings

BIASES INDUCED BY MEASUREMENT ERROR AND OMITTED VARIABLES

The Statistical Consequences of Failing to Control Adequately for the Primary Determinants

Correlations Between the Primary Determinants and Extralegal Variables

Alternative Interpretations of Results Reported in the Literature

Future Research Directions

AN ILLUSTRATIVE STRUCTURAL MODEL OF CRIMINAL CASE DISPOSITIONS

ESTIMABILITY OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE STRUCTURAL MODEL

HOW THE ILLUSTRATIVE STRUCTURAL MODEL ALLOWS DISENTANGLING THE VARIOUS SOURCES OF RACE-OUTCOME CORRELATIONS: A HEURISTIC…

IDENTIFICATION IN LATENT VARIABLE MODELS WITH SAMPLE SELECTION

ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATION ISSUES

CONCLUDING REMARKS

4-Empirically Based Sentencing Guidelines and Ethical Considerations

THE SIMPLEST CASE: NO ETHICALLY IRRELEVANT VARIABLES

THE PRESENCE OF A SINGLE ETHICALLY IRRELEVANT VARIABLE: THE LINEAR CASE

NONLINEARITIES AND MORE THAN ONE ETHICALLY IRRELEVANT VARIABLE

CONCLUSION

NOTES.

5-The Construction of Sentencing Guidelines-A Methodological Critique

THE CONCEPT OF DECISION-MAKING GUIDELINES

(1) Ranges Rather than Points

(2) Nonmandatory Ranges

THE DESCRIPTION OF PAST SENTENCING PRACTICE

PROBLEMS OF MODEL DEVELOPMENT

Step (1)

Step (2)

Step (3)

How Many Models?

What Variables Should Be Included?

FROM MODELS TO GUIDELINES

The Decision to Incarcerate

Widths of Prescribed "Normal" Ranges

ASSESSING THE STRUCTURE AND IMPACT OF GUIDELINES

6-The Politics of Sentencing Reform-Sentencing Guidelines in Pennsylvania and Minnesota

DISPARITY, SEVERITY, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF AUTHORITY: CENTRAL ISSUES IN SENTENCING REFORM

LEGISLATIVE POLITICS AND SENTENCING REFORM

Minnesota

Pennsylvania

THE STATUTES AND THE MANDATES OF THE COMMISSIONS

INTERPRETING THE MANDATES AND CREATING GUIDELINES

Membership, Leadership, and Staff

The Guidelines: Construction Process and Their Content

Key Elements in Designing the Guidelines

THE POLITICS OF GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT: THE ROLE OF INTEREST GROUPS

7-Sentencing Reforms and Their Impacts

Impacts Considered

Innovations Considered

ABOLITION OF PLEA BARGAINING

Plea Bargaining Ban in Alaska

Prosecutorial Involvement in Sentence Bargaining

Charge Bargaining and Other Circumvention

Consequences of the Ban on Case Processing

Screening

Dismissals of Cases

Method of Disposition

Sanctions Policies

Disposition Time

Conclusion

Participants' Reactions

Was the Ban a Good Thing?

Implications of the Alaska Experience

The "Hampton" County Charge Bargaining Ban

Dismissals

Sanctions

Practitioners' Reactions

Michigan

Dispositions.

Adaptive Responses

MANDATORY SENTENCING LAWS

Arrest and Case Screening

Dismissal and Conviction Rates

Sanctioning Rates

Trial Rates

Massachusetts

Arrests and Prosecutorial Screening

Dismissal and Conviction

Sanctions and Delay

New York

Dismissal

Incarceration Rates

Severity of Prison Sentences

Delays in Court

DETERMINATE SENTENCING IN CALIFORNIA

Description of the California Uniform Determinate Sentencing Law

Formal Compliance With DSL

Selection of Base Terms

Enhancements

Probation Ineligibility

Charging

Plea Bargaining After DSL

Patterns and Trends in Plea Bargaining

Guilty Plea Rates

Timing of Guilty Pleas

Variations in Plea Bargaining Practices

Impact on Prison Use

Trends in Prison Use

Factors Contributing to Increased Prison Use

Changes in Probation Subsidies

Changes in Case Filtering

Demographic Changes

Increases in Punitiveness

Impact on Length of Terms

Length of Prison Terms

Variability in Prison Terms

Implications for the Size of the Prison Population

Conclusions

SENTENCING GUIDELINES

Guideline Types

Formal Compliance

Voluntary/Descriptive Guidelines

Presumptive/Prescriptive Guidelines

Variability in Sentences

Case Processing

Prison Use

PAROLE REFORMS

Parole Abolition

Parole Guidelines

Severity

Accuracy

Variability

Disparity Reduction

Substantive Findings

Procedural Compliance

Adaptive Responses

Marginal Cases

Methodological Concerns

The Necessity for Extended Observation Periods

The Necessity for Outcome Measures at All Levels of Case Processing

The Necessity for Adequate Controls for Changes in Case Attributes

The Necessity for Qualitative Analysis of System Functioning

REFERENCES

8-The Impact of Changes in Sentencing Policy on Prison Populations

THE NEED FOR ESTIMATES

PROJECTION OF FUTURE PRISON POPULATIONS AS A BASELINE FOR THE IMPACT ESTIMATE

Naive Projection-Current Situation as a Baseline

Extrapolation of the Time Series of Prison Populations

Multivariate Regression

Projections Based on Demographic-Specific Incarceration Rates

Disaggregated Flow Models

Microsimulation Models

IMPACT ESTIMATION

Identification of Population Subsets

Establishment of Values of Policy Variables

Behavioral Response to the New Policy

Calculation of the Effects of the Sentencing Policy Change

Estimation of the Impact of a Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Bill

SUMMARY AND FURTHER RESEARCH NEEDS

REFERENCES.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographies.

ISBN:

9786610245949

9781280245947

1280245948

9780309567855

0309567858

9780585182179

0585182175

OCLC:

923270743