Transmitting Prosecutorial Policy - A Case Study in Jackson County, Missouri (From Prosecutorial Decisionmaking - Selected Readings, P 107-124, 1980, Joan E Jacoby, ed. - See NCJ-79210)

• NCJ Number: 79216
• Author(s): J E Jacoby; L R Mellon; E C Ratledge; S H Turner
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-NI-AX-0034
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: Bureau of Social Science Research, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-79210.

Annotation

Decisionmaking uniformity and consistency are examined in the Jackson County, Missouri prosecutor's office.

Abstract

Consistency is defined as the extent of agreement between the assistants and the policymaker, and uniformity is defined as the amount of agreement among assistants independent of a comparison to the leader. The test, which was conducted on October 31, 1979, produced 32 responses (31 assistants and the prosecuting attorney) to each of the 30 cases in the standard case set. The distribution of cases along the priority scale indicates that a full range of cases was presented to the prosecutors--from lowest priority to top priority--and that the statistical tendency to normalize distributions at the average level was not violated. The occurrence of both of these conditions gives credibility to the subsequent analyses. The decisionmaking outcomes examined were (1) the priority of the case for prosecution, (2) accepting a case for prosecution, (3) case disposed of by plea, (4) case reduced to a lesser charge, (5) disposition by trial, and (6) recommendation for incarceration. An analysis of the factors considered by the assistants in decisionmaking indicates that the office is behaving in a rational and expected manner and that the decisions are based on factors that are logically related. Findings on uniformity and consistency in decisionmaking show that the prosecutor's policy is known to the assistants and the levels of uniformity and consistency in decisionmaking are almost equal. Background information is provided on the structure and operation of the office, and tabular data are provided.