One way to unwind mass incarceration without compromising public safety is to use risk assessment instruments in sentencing and corrections. Although these instruments figure prominently in current ...reforms, critics argue that benefits in crime control will be offset by an adverse effect on racial minorities. Based on a sample of 34,794 federal offenders, we examine the relationships among race, risk assessment the Post Conviction Risk Assessment (PCRA), and future arrest. First, application of well‐established principles of psychological science revealed little evidence of test bias for the PCRA—the instrument strongly predicts arrest for both Black and White offenders, and a given score has essentially the same meaning—that is, the same probability of recidivism—across groups. Second, Black offenders obtain higher average PCRA scores than do White offenders (d = .34; 13.5 percent nonoverlap in groups’ scores), so some applications could create disparate impact. Third, most (66 percent) of the racial difference in PCRA scores is attributable to criminal history—which is already embedded in sentencing guidelines. Finally, criminal history is not a proxy for race, but instead it mediates the relationship between race and future arrest. Data are more helpful than rhetoric if the goal is to improve practice at this opportune moment in history.
This is the first of a two-part paper on penal exceptionalism in Scandinavia—that is, low rates of imprisonment and humane prison conditions. Part I examines the roots of this exceptionalism in ...Finland, Norway and Sweden, arguing that it emerges from the cultures of equality that existed in these countries which were then embedded in their social fabrics through the universalism of the Scandinavian welfare state.
Trait impressions from faces influence many consequential decisions even in situations in which decisions should not be based on a person's appearance. Here, we test (a) whether people rely on trait ...impressions when making legal sentencing decisions and (b) whether two types of interventions—educating decision-makers and changing the accessibility of facial information—reduce the influence of facial stereotypes. We first introduced a novel legal decision-making paradigm. Results of a pretest (n = 320) showed that defendants with an untrustworthy (vs. trustworthy) facial appearance were found guilty more often. We then tested the effectiveness of different interventions in reducing the influence of facial stereotypes. Educating participants about the biasing effects of facial stereotypes reduced explicit beliefs that personality is reflected in facial features, but did not reduce the influence of facial stereotypes on verdicts (Study 1, n = 979). In Study 2 (n = 975), we presented information sequentially to disrupt the intuitive accessibility of trait impressions. Participants indicated an initial verdict based on case-relevant information and a final verdict based on all information (including facial photographs). The majority of initial sentences were not revised and therefore unbiased. However, most revised sentences were in line with facial stereotypes (e.g., a guilty verdict for an untrustworthy-looking defendant). On average, this actually increased facial bias in verdicts. Together, our findings highlight the persistent influence of trait impressions from faces on legal sentencing decisions.
This study investigates the impact of sentencing guideline factors on judges' decisions regarding in/out and the length of imprisonment for individuals convicted of money laundering-related offenses ...in South Korea. Analyzing a dataset of 413 cases involving money mule activities from 2021, the research employs binary logistic regression and negative binomial regression models to establish an association between predictors and sentencing outcomes. The study found that defendants who provided monetary compensation to their victims were significantly more likely to be placed on probation than those who did not. Additionally, it was found that monetary compensation to victims had the most significant impact on the decisions regarding the length of imprisonment among the factors outlined in the sentencing guidelines. This finding serves as a warning sign for prospective job seekers, revealing the potentially dire ramifications of involvement in money laundering crimes.
Background: In order to meet the demands of contemporary society, German juvenile criminal law needs a necessary reform. Consequently, this article proposes the reintroduction of indeterminate ...sentencing as an instrument for an overall social benefit to this need for reform and to counter the existing determinate sentencing system in place today. This specific sentencing system is understood to be the current guideline and norm currently implemented. According to Luhmann's systems theory, this contradicts the diversity of societies and the unique individuality of each member within them. In this perspective, individuals have the right to assert their rights and define their norms as long as they do not break the law or commit a criminal offence.
Methods: The discussion surrounding indeterminate sentencing reached its conclusion in the late 1990s, so a lack of scientific research exists. However, considering the societal transformation and development of the younger generation, the reintroduction of indeterminate sentencing seems opportune. Niklas Luhmann’s flexible systems theory from the 1980 s is well suited to support this reintroduction. Based on a relevant literature review and the development of tightening in German juvenile law, this article adopts an analytical approach supported by social, legal and political research. It provides a framework elucidating the reasons and the appropriate form for reintroduc ing indeterminate sentencing as a useful method to increase resocialis ation among the youth . This framework includes practical approaches such as combining education, professional training and social education, all aimed at implementing a rehabilitative approach within the juvenile justice system, similar to the original law that was abandoned.
Results and Conclusions: If this occurs, the indeterminate sentence allows for a more individualised approach, establishing an individual-oriented minimum sentence while maintaining a maximum duration. Thus, it aligns with Luhmann's flexible systems theory approach and proves relevant to the current circumstances of the youth generation. Such an approach offers greater benefits by emphasising the integration of education within the prison sentence for resocialisation, surpassing the capabilities of the current determinate sentencing in juvenile criminal law.
The actual recidivism rates average between 25% and 30% depending on the sentence. With an education-focused approach adjusted to the juvenile offender , coupled with a realistic future- oriented education system in and after the sentence, the process of resocialis ation stands a better chance of success . Although the research on this topic is in its early stages, this approach serves as an initial step towards instigating the necessary reform within juvenile law.
Objectives:
We argue that the reasons court actors conform to or depart from sentencing guideline recommendations likely vary depending on whether the decision involves an alternative sanction or ...incarceration and that these reasons may have consequences for ethnoracial disparities in the sentencing of defendants and how these disparities are understood.
Method:
We use recent (2012–2016) Pennsylvania sentencing data to examine (1) the relationship between defendant race/ethnicity and court actors’ decisions to depart downward and upward from the guidelines and (2) whether such relationships vary depending on whether they involve an alternative sanction, namely intermediate punishments (IPs).
Results:
We find that the association of defendant race/ethnicity with decisions to conform to the guidelines or to depart is greatly impacted by whether the sentence involves an IP. Blacks and, to a lesser extent, Latinos experienced greater disadvantage in guideline decision-making, whether conformity or departures, when the sentence involved an IP.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that the integration of IP into guideline systems may have (1) mobilized ethnoracial disparities in sentencing, (2) focused the location of sentencing disparities to sentences involving IP, and (3) changed the applicability of common interpretations of guideline decisions and disparities in their imposition.
•High culpability scores result in corporations being sentenced to implement programs.•Prior charges result in corporations being sentenced to implement programs.•Higher base fines result in ...corporations being sentenced to implement programs.
In federal courts in the U.S., judges can require criminal organizations to implement corporate compliance programs, ideally to decrease future crime occurrences. However, it is unclear of the circumstances that merit this sentence. This study examines a primary consideration when sentencing criminal organizations that is drawn from the focal concerns framework: the blameworthiness of the organization in the commission of the crime. The study uses data compiled by the U.S. Sentencing Commission from federal documents for 1,125 organizations that were sentenced in federal criminal courts between October 1, 2010, and September 30, 2017. Results showed that several measures of blameworthiness were significantly related to the sentencing of corporate compliance programs, showing partial support for the focal concern of blameworthiness. The policy implications of these findings are also discussed.
Judges are typically tasked to consider sentencing benefits but not costs. Previous research finds that both laypeople and prosecutors discount the costs of incarceration when forming sentencing ...attitudes, raising important questions about whether professional judges show the same bias during sentencing. To test this, we used a vignette-based experiment in which Minnesota state judges (
N
= 87) reviewed a case summary about an aggravated robbery and imposed a hypothetical sentence. Using random assignment, half the participants received additional information about plausible negative consequences of incarceration. As predicted, our results revealed a mitigating effect of cost exposure on prison sentence term lengths. Critically, these findings support the conclusion that policies that increase transparency in sentencing costs could reduce sentence lengths, which has important economic and social ramifications.
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