Defendant's Advanced Age as a Prepotent Status in Criminal Case Disposition and Sanction

• NCJ Number: 116769
• Journal: Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and Rehabilitation Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (1989) Pages: 87-123
• Author(s): G Feinberg; M D McGriff
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 37 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study compared dispositions of elderly and younger theft misdemeanants charged in the Dade County Court, Fla., in 1985.

Abstract

The sample included 7,880 defendants, including 392 elderly females and 290 elderly males, of whom 36 were black. Results indicate that the majority of elderly theft defendants (58.1 percent) received some form of economic penalty if convicted. They were more likely to be fined, dunned court costs, or estreat their bond than similarly accused younger defendants (those 59 or younger) who were much more likely to receive probation. Generally, whether or not the elderly defendants pled guilty was not relevant to the sanction imposed, nor was the amount of the fine related to plea. For younger defendants, sanction was related to plea, and a not guilty plea was associated with a higher fine amount. Attorney presence or absence also was unrelated to specific sanction for the elderly, while younger defendants asserting an adversarial posture were more likely to suffer economic penalties than those who did not. For blacks in their senior years, the likelihood of being fined and dunned for court costs increased significantly, while the probability of jail terms decreased, and that of probation remained fairly constant. While the relationship between increasing age and the likelihood of fines also holds for whites, the increment was less dramatic; and there was no significant increase in the imposition of court costs with increasing age. For both races, use of fines and court costs increased with increasing age, while use of jail sanctions decreased. Finally, elderly males were significantly less likely to receive probation and more likely to receive a jail sanction than were elderly females. While both sexes were equally likely to be fined, males typically paid higher fines. 10 tables and 32 references.