NCJ Number
195804
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2002 Pages: 456-475
Date Published
2002
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article assesses the impact of State sentencing policies on incarceration rates during the late 1990’s.
Abstract
The authors’ main question is whether State sentencing policies or other factors, such as demographic and social factors, have a greater influence on incarceration rates. Previous research has suggested that a variety of factors are linked to State incarceration rates, including State policies, demographic make-up, economics, crime rates, and citizen ideology. Since many States have attempted to influence their prison populations through sentencing policies, it becomes necessary to study whether such policies have a significant impact on prison population via incarceration rates. The authors examined data extracted from the State Sentencing and Corrections (SSC) archive, which is housed with the Vera Institute of Justice. This database consists mainly of secondary data collected by government agencies and includes information concerning demographics, crimes, arrests, sentencing, and corrections for all 50 States between the years of 1977 and 1999. Results of zero-order correlations and regression analyses indicates that those States that have adopted presumptive sentencing guidelines are the only States where sentencing policy has directly impacted or lowered rates of incarceration and prison admission. Other types of sentencing policies, such as mandatory sentencing and truth-in-sentencing, have had no impact on incarcerations rates. Across all States, the greatest impact to incarceration rates was shown to be the variables of crimes rates, percentage of Blacks within the population, and citizen ideology. Thus, the authors’ caution policy makers that sentencing policy has less to do with prison populations than other factors within their States. Tables, appendix, notes, and references