Download or read book Exploring the Effects of Prior Record on Sentencing Decisions written by Jordan Tyler Zvonkovich and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prior research has consistently found that, after offense seriousness, an offenders criminal record is generally the strongest predictor of sentencing outcomes. Sentencing guideline jurisdictions explicitly consider both factors in the recommended sentence for an average offender. Scholars have identified two underlying rationales pertaining to the use of criminal history at sentencing. Retributive theorists argue that criminal records provide important information relevant to offender culpability. In their view, recidivists deserve more severe punishments for their continued criminality despite the prior sanctioning. In contrast, utilitarian sentencing systems are oriented toward crime prevention. Based on the general idea of deterrence, an offenders criminal record serves as a proxy for risk of future offending. Jurisdictions are often silent on their purported rationale for utilizing criminal history. Prior literature has also demonstrated that beyond its guideline recommendation, criminal history frequently exerts an independent effect on sentencing decisions. This study has two explicit goals: (1) to examine for what offenders this independent effect is strongest, and for which decision, incarceration or sentence length, and (2) to explore if the composition of prior record dictates differences in sentence length. Using statewide Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing data, this study analyzes offense severity-specific logistic and ordinary least squares regression models for the incarceration and sentence length decisions. Regarding the incarceration decision, findings suggest that the independent effect of prior record is statistically significant for low severity offenses. Additionally, findings suggest that this independent effect is conditioned by race. Black offenders are more likely than white offenders to receive incarceration sentences for defendants with a prior record score of zero. However, this racial difference is not significant at higher prior record score classifications. The results of the sentence length analysis suggest a more consistent independent effect of prior record. Prior record is a statistically significant predictor of the length of the sentence, beyond the sentencing guideline recommendation, for six of the twelve models. Similar to the incarceration analysis, findings suggest that this independent effect is conditioned by race. However, moderation by race is not consistent for all models. For very minor offenses (OGS 1 & 2), white offenders receive longer sentences at all prior record score classifications. Offenders convicted of somewhat more serious, but still relatively minor offenses (OGS 3-7), display a pattern similar to that of the incarceration analysis. Black offenders receive longer sentences relative to whites at lower prior record scores, but as prior record score increases the disparity is attenuated. For offenders convicted of more serious offenses (OGS 8 & 9), there appears to a statistically significant interaction, but the difference in sentence length is quite small. The second goal of this study is to analyze if the severity of the offenses represented in an offenders prior record score leads to longer sentences. There are many possible combinations of prior offenses that can lead to the same prior record score. For example, an offender with a prior record score of four may have one prior conviction (that counts for four points), or several minor offenses (which together total four points). Comparing like offenders, (i.e. those with the same prior record score), findings suggest that at lower OGS levels offenders with a greater overall quantity of past convictions receive longer sentences. However, at higher OGS levels offenders with serious convictions in their prior record receive longer sentences. The results are discussed in relation to an offense severity-specific attribution process.
Download or read book Handbook on the Consequences of Sentencing and Punishment Decisions written by Beth M. Huebner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Handbook on the Consequences of Sentencing and Punishment Decisions, the third volume in the Routledge ASC Division on Corrections & Sentencing Series, includes contemporary essays on the consequences of punishment during an era of mass incarceration. The Handbook Series offers state-of-the-art volumes on seminal and topical issues that span the fields of sentencing and corrections. In that spirit, the editors gathered contributions that summarize what is known in each topical area and also identify emerging theoretical, empirical, and policy work. The book is grounded in the current knowledge about the specific topics, but also includes new, synthesizing material that reflects the knowledge of the leading minds in the field. Following an editors’ introduction, the volume is divided into four sections. First, two contributions situate and contextualize the volume by providing insight into the growth of mass punishment over the past three decades and an overview of the broad consequences of punishment decisions. The overviews are then followed by a section exploring the broader societal impacts of punishment on housing, employment, family relationships, and health and well-being. The third section centers on special populations and examines the unique effects of punishment for juveniles, immigrants, and individuals convicted of sexual or drug-related offenses. The fourth section focuses on institutional implications with contributions on jails, community corrections, and institutional corrections.
Download or read book Paying for the Past written by Richard S. Frase and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2019-08 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All modern sentencing systems, in the US and beyond, consider the offender's prior record to be an important determinant of the form and severity of punishment for subsequent offences. Repeat offenders receive harsher punishments than first offenders, and offenders with longer criminal records are punished more severely than those with shorter records. Yet the vast literature on sentencing policy, law, and practice has generally overlooked the issue of prior convictions, even though this is the most important sentencing factor after the seriousness of the crime. In Paying for the Past, Richard S. Frase and Julian V. Roberts provide a critical and systematic examination of current prior record enhancements under sentencing guidelines across the US. Drawing on empirical data and analyses of guidelines from a number of jurisdictions, they illustrate different approaches to prior record enhancements and the differing outcomes of those approaches. Roberts and Frase demonstrate that most prior record enhancements generate a range of adverse outcomes at sentencing. Further, the pervasive justifications for prior record enhancement, such as the repeat offender's assumed higher risk of reoffending or greater culpability, are uncertain and have rarely been subjected to critical appraisal. The punitive sentencing premiums for repeat offenders prescribed by US guidelines cannot be justified on grounds of prevention or retribution. Shining a light on a neglected but critically important topic, Paying for the Past examines the costs of prior record enhancements for repeat offenders and offers model guidelines to help reduce racial disparities and reallocate criminal justice resources for jurisdictions who use sentence enhancements.
Download or read book The Impact of Criminal Court Sentencing Decisions and Structural Characteristics written by Martin A. Levin and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book How Do Judges Decide written by Cassia Spohn and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2002-01-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The appropriate amount of punishment for a given crime is an issue that has been debated by scholars, philosophers and legal professionals since the beginning of civilizations. This book seeks to address this issue in all of its complexity by providing a comprehensive overview of the sentencing process in the United States. The book begins by discussing the overall concept of punishment and then proceeds to dissect individual aspects of punishment. Topics include: the sentencing process; responsibility of the judge; disparity and discrimination in sentencing; and sentencing reform. This book is an ideal text for introductory courses on the judicial system, criminal law, law and society. It can be an essential resource to help students understand patterns in the wide discretion and latitude given to judges when determining punishments within the framework of the United States judicial system.
Download or read book The Effects of Prior Stages of Criminal Justice Decision Making on Criminal Sentencing A Test of Three Models written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous research has analyzed the effects of legal and extralegal factors on criminal justice decision-making. Most of this research analyzes discrete stages, rather than multiple stages of the criminal justice process. Using data on felony convictions in a New Jersey State Court, this study compares the utility of a legal model of decision-making, an organizational model of decision-making and Black's (1976) theory of law in predicting several criminal justice outcomes. Providing some support for both the legal model and Black's theory of law, the results indicate the influence of both legal case characteristics and extralegal factors during initial stages of criminal justice processing. However, the influence of extralegal factors on later sentencing decisions through their effects on initial outcomes indicates the operation of organizational factors in criminal justice processing. While offenders are directly penalized by extralegal factors during initial criminal justice processing, they are penalized indirectly at sentencing stages by these same factors. Overall, the results of this analysis provide overwhelming support for an organizational model of criminal justice processing, in which later criminal justice outcomes are greatly a function of outcomes at previous stages. Previous research fails to systematically include prior outcomes in analyses of criminal sentencing. Criminal sentencing research that fails to consider the impact of initial criminal justice outcomes may falsely conclude that extralegal factors have no affect on decision-making.
Download or read book Handbook on Sentencing Policies and Practices in the 21st Century written by Cassia Spohn and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2019-06-14 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sentencing Policies and Practices in the 21st Century focuses on the evolution and consequences of sentencing policies and practices, with sentencing broadly defined to include plea bargaining, judicial and juror decision making, and alternatives to incarceration, including participation in problem-solving courts. This collection of essays and reports of original research explores how sentencing policies and practices, both in the United States and internationally, have evolved, explores important issues raised by guideline and non-guideline sentencing, and provides an overview of recent research on plea bargaining in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Other topics include the role of criminal history in sentencing, the past and future of capital punishment, strategies for reducing mass incarceration, problem-solving courts, and restorative justice practices. Each chapter summarizes what is known, identifies the gaps in the research, and discusses the theoretical, empirical, and policy implications of the research findings. The volume is grounded in current knowledge about the specific topics, but also presents new material that reflects the thinking of the leading minds in the field and that outlines a research agenda for the future. This is Volume 4 of the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Corrections and Sentencing handbook series. Previous volumes focused on risk assessment, disparities in punishment, and the consequences of punishment decisions. The handbooks provide a comprehensive overview of these topics for scholars, students, practitioners, and policymakers.
Download or read book Research on Sentencing written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1983-02-01 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Uses and Consequences of a Criminal Conviction written by Margaret Fitzgerald O'Reilly and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-11-23 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the increasing retention and use of previous criminal record information, within and beyond the criminal justice system. There remains a misconception that once an offender has served the penalty for an offence, his or her dealings with the law and legal system in relation to that offence is at an end. This book demonstrates that in fact the criminal record lingers and permeates facets of the person's life far beyond the de jure sentence. Criminal records are relied upon by key decision makers at all stages of the formal criminal process, from the police to the judiciary. Convictions can affect areas of policing, bail, trial procedure and sentencing, which the author discusses. Furthermore, with the increasing intensifying of surveillance techniques in the interests of security, ex-offenders are monitored more closely post release and these provisions are explored here. Even beyond the formal criminal justice system, individuals can continue to experience many collateral consequences of a conviction whereby access to employment, travel and licenses (among other areas of social activity) can be limited as a consequence of disclosure requirements. Overall, this book examines the perpetual nature of criminal convictions through the evolution of criminal record use, focussing on the Irish perspective, and also considers the impact from a broader international perspective.
Download or read book Previous Convictions at Sentencing written by Julian V Roberts and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2010-07-12 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest volume in the Penal Theory and Penal Ethics series addresses one of the oldest and most contested questions in the field of criminal sentencing: should an offender's previous convictions affect the sentence? This question provokes a series of others: Is it possible to justify a discount for first offenders within a retributive sentencing framework? How should previous convictions enter into the sentencing equation? At what point should prior misconduct cease to count for the purposes of fresh sentencing? Should similar previous convictions count more than convictions unrelated to the current offence? Statutory sentencing regimes around the world incorporate provisions which mandate harsher treatment of repeat offenders. Although there is an extensive literature on the definition and use of criminal history information, the emphasis here, as befits a volume in the series, is on the theoretical and normative aspects of considering previous convictions at sentencing. Several authors explore the theory underlying the practice of mitigating the punishments for first offenders, while others put forth arguments for enhancing sentences for recidivists. The practice of sentencing repeat offenders in two jurisdictions (England and Wales, and Sweden) is also examined in detail.
Download or read book The Growth of Incarceration in the United States written by Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-12-31 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States has increased fivefold during the last four decades. The U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons. The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5 to 10 times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. The U.S. prison population is largely drawn from the most disadvantaged part of the nation's population: mostly men under age 40, disproportionately minority, and poorly educated. Prisoners often carry additional deficits of drug and alcohol addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and lack of work preparation or experience. The growth of incarceration in the United States during four decades has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines research and analysis of the dramatic rise of incarceration rates and its affects. This study makes the case that the United States has gone far past the point where the numbers of people in prison can be justified by social benefits and has reached a level where these high rates of incarceration themselves constitute a source of injustice and social harm. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States examines policy changes that created an increasingly punitive political climate and offers specific policy advice in sentencing policy, prison policy, and social policy. The report also identifies important research questions that must be answered to provide a firmer basis for policy. This report is a call for change in the way society views criminals, punishment, and prison. This landmark study assesses the evidence and its implications for public policy to inform an extensive and thoughtful public debate about and reconsideration of policies.
Download or read book Research on Sentencing written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1983-02-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Effects of Prior Stages of Criminal Justice Decision making on Criminal Sentencing written by Melissa Hunt Godwin and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keywords: criminal sentencing, criminal justice.
Download or read book Exploring Criminal Justice written by Robert M. Regoli and published by Jones & Bartlett Learning. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ideal introductory criminal justice text book, Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials, Third Edition, examines the relationships between law enforcement, corrections, law, policy making and administration, the juvenile justice system, and the courts.
Download or read book Effects of Prior Record in Sentencing Research in a Large Northeastern City 1968 1979 written by Susan Welch and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Social Contexts of Criminal Sentencing written by Martha A. Myers and published by Springer. This book was released on 1987-05-26 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically, the announcement and invocation of criminal penalties were public spectacles. Today, fear of crime and disaffection with the criminal justice system guarantee that this public fascination with punishment continues. In the past decade, virtually every legislature in the country has undertaken sentencing reform, in the hope that public concern with crime would be allayed and dispari ties in criminal sentences would be reduced if not eliminated. Scholars have intensified their longstanding preoccupation with discrimination and the sources of disparate treatment during sentencing - issues that continue to fuel contem porary reform efforts. As documented in Chapter 1, empirical research on sen tencing has concentrated much of its attention on the offender. Only recently have attempts been made to imbed sentencing in its broader organizational and social contexts. Our study extends these attempts by quantitatively analyzing the relationship between the offender and the social contexts in which he or she is sentenced. We use data on felony sentencing in Georgia between 1976 and 1985 to ask three questions. The first addresses an issue of perennial concern: during sentencing, how important are offender attributes, both those of explicit legal relevance and traits whose legal relevance is questionable or nonexistent? The second question directs attention to the social contexts of sentencing and asks whether they directly affect sentencing outcomes.
Download or read book Exploring Sentencing Practice in England and Wales written by J. Roberts and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-02-27 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the theory and practice of sentencing in England and Wales, exploring issues such as the role of previous convictions, offender remorse and sentencing female offenders, as well as drawing upon a new and unique source of data from the Crown courts.
