NCJ Number
216674
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 5 Dated: September-October 2006 Pages: 493-506
Date Published
September 2006
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This examination of criminal sentences in Arkansas from January 1, 2000, to January 1, 2002, focused on the influence of Arkansas' voluntary sentencing guidelines on sentencing disparities across courts.
Abstract
The findings show that the variables that influenced prison sentences (the in/out decisions as well as the number of months imposed) did not necessarily influence jail sentences in the same way. This suggests that judges did not consider the same variables in deciding on jail and prison sentences. The strongest predictor of whether or not an offender was sentenced to prison was whether he/she was already under some form of court-ordered supervision. An offender on probation or parole was almost 13 times more likely to go to prison. The next strongest predictor of a prison sentence was the criminal history score; those with higher criminal-history scores were almost seven times more likely to receive a prison sentence. Little, if any, disparity was found in the judge's decision to imprison or jail a defendant. The length of the prison or jail sentence, however, suggests some disparities. Data were collected from the Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts and the Arkansas Sentencing Commission. The cases examined were processed from 2000 through 2002. Sentencing guidelines have been in effect since 1994. The dependent variables were the decision to imprison the defendant, the decision to jail the defendant, the length of the prison term in months, and the length of the jail term in months. Independent variables included legally relevant variables, such as the offender's criminal history, whether the charged offense was a felony, and whether the offense was a violent crime. Other independent variables were related to defendant characteristics (race, sex, age, and region). 6 tables and 37 references