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Processing of Drug Arrestees: Questioning the Assumption of an Ambivalent Reaction

NCJ Number
140855
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 20 Issue: 6 Dated: (1992) Pages: 517-526
Author(s)
P B Kraska
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
To examine the perceived ambivalence of the U.S. criminal justice system toward the processing of drug offenders, this study used data obtained from the Offender-Based Transaction Statistics database to compare event-history processing data on felony-level drug, property, and violent arrestees.
Abstract
The hypothesis of the study was that the academic and popular belief that the criminal justice system reaction to drug offenders would be reflected in a more pronounced funneling effect and a higher rate of alternatives to incarceration as compared to the processing of violent and property offenders. The data do not support the hypothesis, however. The only finding that indicates ambivalence in terms of sentencing was the slightly higher prosecution rate for property arrestees than for drug arrestees. This phenomenon is probably due to the difficulty of prosecuting noncomplainant offenses and to the frequent reduction of charges in property offense cases. The uniformity of the system's response to the various types of offenders may be explained by the bureaucratic nature of the criminal justice process. In any event, there is no evidence to support the common perception of a funneling effect for drug offenders, a perception which has fueled unjustified demands for harsher treatment of drug offenders. 36 references