Sentencing guidelines : lessons from Pennsylvania / John H. Kramer, Jeffery T. Ulmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kramer, John H., 1943- author.

Ulmer, Jeffery T., 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pennsylvania. Commission on Sentencing--History.

Pennsylvania.

Sentences (Criminal procedure)--Pennsylvania.

Sentences (Criminal procedure).

Prison sentences--Pennsylvania.

Prison sentences.

Sentences (Criminal procedure)--Social aspects--Pennsylvania.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 p.)

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colorado : Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Sentencing guidelines, adopted by many states in recent decades, are intended to eliminate the impact of bias based on factors ranging from a criminal’s ethnicity or gender to the county in which he or she was convicted. But have these guidelines achieved their goal of “fair punishment”? And how do the concerns of local courts shape sentencing under guidelines? In this comprehensive examination of the development, reform, and application of sentencing guidelines in one of the first states to employ them, John Kramer and Jeffery Ulmer offer a nuanced analysis of the complexities involved in administering justice.

Contents:

""Book Title""; ""Table of Contents""; ""List of Tables and Figures""; ""Preface""; ""1-Understanding Sentencing""; ""The Social Environment of Guidelines: Court Communities and Focal Concerns""; ""Overview""; ""2-Constructing Pennsylvania�s Sentencing Guidelines""; ""The Sentencing Reform Movement""; ""Pennsylvania�s Sentencing Reform""; ""The Commission Rests""; ""Notes""; ""3-Pennsylvania�s Commission Meets New Challenges""; ""Mandatory Drug Sentences and Sentencing Guidelines""; ""Guideline Revisions in the 1990s""; ""Sentencing Reforms in Pennsylvania""

""The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing as an Institution""""Notes""; ""4-Sentencing Serious Violent Offenders""; ""Discretion, Departures, and the 1997 Guideline Revisions""; ""Court Communities and Focal Concerns of Sentencing""; ""Research Methods""; ""Judicial Interview Themes""; ""Discussion""; ""Notes""; ""5-Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparity""; ""Focal Concerns and Status-Related Sentencing Disparity""; ""Research on Status-Related Disparity Under Guidelines""; ""Older and More Recent Data on Social Status Disparity in Pennsylvania Sentencing""; ""Conclusion""

""6-Location Matters: Variation Between Counties""""Existing Research""; ""Court Communities and Their Embedded Focal Concerns""; ""Research Context""; ""Data and Methods""; ""Discussion""; ""Notes""; ""7-Guilty Pleas vs. Trial Convictions: Unwarranted Disparity?""; ""Prior Research on Sentencing Differences""; ""Focal Concerns of Sentencing and Their Embeddedness in Court Communities""; ""Race, Ethnicity, and Gender: Trial Penalties and Social Status�Related Disparity?""; ""Data""; ""Findings""; ""Discussion""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""8-Guidelines and Mandatory Minimums""

""Research on Prosecutorial Discretion and Sentencing""""A Normative/Legalistic Perspective""; ""Uncertainty, Attribution, and Focal Concerns of Sentencing""; ""Data and Methods""; ""Findings""; ""Discussion""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""9-Can Guidelines Change Sentencing Practices?""; ""Research on the Impact of Guidelines""; ""Prior Studies of the Impact of Pennsylvania�s Guidelines""; ""Changes to the Pennsylvania Guidelines and Their Impact: Five Questions""; ""Impact of Shifts in Guidelines for Less Serious Offenders""

""Multivariate Analysis: Changes in Incarceration in the Lower Guideline Cells""""Guideline Changes for Mid-Level Offenders: Promoting the Use of RIP""; ""Discussion""; ""Notes""; ""10-Lessons from Pennsylvania�s Struggle for Justice""; ""Empirical Lessons""; ""Final Thoughts""; ""Notes""; ""Research Methods Appendix""; ""Chapter 4: Sentencing Serious Violent Offenders""; ""Chapter 5: Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and Age Disparity""; ""Chapter 6: Location Matters: Variation Between Counties""; ""Chapter 7: Guilty Pleas vs. Trial Convictions: Unwarranted Disparity?""

""Chapter 8: Guidelines and Mandatory Minimums""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-58826-918-3

OCLC:

1334343638