COMPARISON OF AVERAGE TIME SERVED BY FELONS RELEASED FROM NORTH CAROLINA PRISONS WITH AVERAGE TIME SERVED BY THOSE RELEASED IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS

• NCJ Number: 59436
• Author(s): G F LANG; K L PARKER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 9 pages
• Corporate Author: North Carolina Dept of Correction
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A COMPARISON OF TIME SERVED BY NORTH CAROLINA INMATES WITH THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND WITH INMATES OF FLORIDA, GEORGIA, AND SOUTH CAROLINA FOR VARIOUS CRIME CATEGORIES IS PRESENTED, PRIMARILY IN TABULAR FORMAT.

Abstract

NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROBLEMS OF COMPARABILITY OF CRIMINAL LAW AMONG STATES SOME USEFUL COMPARISONS CAN BE MADE BETWEEN TIME SERVED BY NORTH CAROLINA INMATES AND INMATES OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS. CRIMES CONSIDERED IN THIS COMPARISON INCLUDE MURDER, MANSLAUGHTER, ROBBERY, RAPE, BURGLARY, GRAND THEFT, AND FORGERY. DATA USED IN THE REPORT ARE TAKEN FROM 'SENTENCING PRACTICES QUARTERLY' AND FROM NATIONAL PRISON STATISTICS. NORTH CAROLINA'S OVERALL AVERAGE TIME SERVED WAS COMPARED WITH THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND WITH AVERAGES FROM FLORIDA, GEORGIA, AND SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE THREE STATES WERE CHOSEN BECAUSE THEY, LIKE NORTH CAROLINA, RANK HIGH IN INCARCERATION RATES AND ALSO RANK NEAR THE TOP NATIONALLY IN TOTAL PRISON POPULATION. AN EVALUATION OF OVERALL MONTHS SERVED SHOWS THAT THE NORTH CAROLINA INMATE SERVES AN AVERAGE OF 31.7 MONTHS; THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IS 18.3 MONTHS. FLORIDA INMATES SERVE 25.9 MONTHS, GEORGIA INMATES 24.2 MONTHS, AND SOUTH CAROLINA INMATES 17.8 MONTHS. ADDITIONALLY, AMONG 17 SELECTED STATES, NORTH CAROLINA RANKED IN THE TOP FIVE IN AVERAGE MONTHS SERVED FOR ALL CRIME CATEGORIES EXCEPT ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON. THE TIME SERVED BY NORTH CAROLINA PRISONERS FOR RAPE AND GRAND THEFT AUTO WAS LONGER THAN THAT SERVED IN ANY OF 16 OTHER SELECTED STATES. THE TABLES SHOW THAT NORTH CAROLINA'S PRISONERS, ON THE AVERAGE, SPEND THE LONGEST TIME IN PRISON WHEN COMPARED WITH THE NATIONAL AVERAGE AND WITH SIMILAR STATES. BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF TIME SERVED IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN DETERMINING PRISON POPULATIONS, ALONG WITH ADMISSIONS, A CROSSJURISDICTIONAL COMPARISON OF TIME SERVED CAN REVEAL ONE POSSIBLE REASON WHY A STATE'S INCARCERATION RATE IS HIGHER THAN THAT OF ANOTHER. TABULAR DATA AND AN APPENDIX ARE PROVIDED IN THE COMPARISON. (LWM)