NCJ Number
230539
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 27 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2010 Pages: 394-430
Date Published
June 2010
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This study examined charging and sentencing outcomes in Federal courts to better understand prosecutorial decisonmaking.
Abstract
The role of the prosecutor in criminal punishments remains a fervent topic of criminal justice discourse, yet it has received limited empirical attention, particularly for U.S. Attorneys in Federal District Courts. The present study examines charging and sentencing outcomes in Federal courts by combining charging data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with sentencing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The merger of these data sources overcomes limitations of each and provides for an investigation of the causes and consequences of Federal prosecutorial charging decisions. Our investigation focuses on the subtle but important influences that extralegal offender characteristics exert in this process. Results indicate that some extralegal characteristics are intricately tied to the likelihood of charge reductions. Moreover, these effects sometimes interact to produce compound disadvantages for some groups of offenders. Our analyses are guided by contemporary theoretical perspectives on courtroom decisionmaking. Tables, references, and appendixes (Published Abstract)