NCJ Number
97202
Date Published
1985
Length
43 pages
Annotation
To examine the relationship of jurisdictional context to sentence disparity, two types of analyses were conducted using data from county jurisdictions in California.
Abstract
The first analysis examined variations across the State's 58 counties in the disposition of felony cases in 1979, including the sentence severity of those convicted, in relation to the jurisdiction's level of urbanization. The second analysis examined comparative patterns of sentence disparity in three county jurisdictions distinguished by their social, economic, and urbanization differences. Findings from the first analysis indicate that the higher the jurisdiction's rate of increase in the proportion of its labor force in urban occupations, the less frequent is the use of the prison sentence. Also, the higher the proportion of a jurisdiction's population residing in towns and cities over 2,500, the less frequent is the use of jail sentences. The three jurisdictions whose sentencing patterns were subjected to detailed examination differed in population size, crime problems, and in demographic, socioeconomic, and political character. However, despite these differences, the three jurisdictions were found to be similar in the effects of court processes, offender criminal history, and offender attributes on sentence severity. Disparities in sentencing practices among the three jurisdictions were also identified; the most significant were the net differences in sentence severity for conviction offenses of similar seriousness. Overall, the combined effect of low urbanization, high population homogeneity, and small size increased a jurisdiction's average level of sentence severity. The question noted is whether these factors are mutually reinforcing or tend to offset one another in their effects on sentence severity. Issues requiring further research are identified. Nine tables are presented.