Extralegal Factors and the Sentencing of Organizational Defendants: An Examination of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines

• NCJ Number: 207903
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 32 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2004 Pages: 643-654
• Author(s): Nicole Leeper Piquero; Jason L. Davis
• Date Published: November 2004
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the application of U.S. sentencing guidelines to organizations convicted of various offenses, so as to determine whether fine amounts have been affected by extralegal organizational characteristics.

Abstract

The study used data collected by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on organizations convicted in Federal criminal courts. With the enactment of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) on November 1, 1991, the commission modified its collection to include pre-guideline and post-guideline information. The current study used post-guideline information that included data from 1991 and beyond. One of the primary benefits of this dataset is its information on legal or court-related issues, extralegal organizational characteristics, and case and sentence outcomes. In order to examine organizational defendants convicted after the implementation of the FSGO, cases were examined from November 1, 1991, through September 30, 2001 (n=1,725). Since fines were the most common punishment given under the FSGO, the total fine dollar amount for a guilty organization was used as the dependent variable. The study also focused on measures of extralegal organizational characteristics, such as economic status, ownership structure, number of employees, and existing compliance program. Control variables were the number of individuals convicted in related cases, the number of organizations convicted in related cases, and the history of misconduct. There were two main findings. First, legal factors were directly related to fine amounts as intended by the sentencing guidelines. Second, two extralegal variables, being economically solvent and closely held organizations, exerted significant effects in predicting the total fine amount, but did not significantly impact the placement of the fine within the guideline range. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. 3 tables, 4 notes, and 35 references