NCJ Number
91192
Journal
Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1983) Pages: 309-331
Date Published
1983
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article uses a nationwide sample of state criminal cases to show the effects of reducing judicial sentencing discretion on disparities across rural-urban, southern-northern, black-white, and poor-nonpoor defendants.
Abstract
Judicial sentencing discretion is defined as the ratio between (1) the range in years within which a judge is allowed to sentence, and (2) the minimum number of years the judge must give when there is no probation. The data do indicate specific differences in sentencing between states of high judicial discretion and those of low judicial discretion, and the relationship of these disparities to discrimination is discussed. (Publisher abstract)