Social worlds of sentencing : court communities under sentencing guidelines

Bibliographic Information

Social worlds of sentencing : court communities under sentencing guidelines

Jeffery T. Ulmer

(SUNY series new directions in crime and justice studies)

State University of New York Press, c1997

  • : hc
  • : pb

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-227) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Many states and the federal system have embraced sentencing guidelines as a mechanism of sentencing reform. This book draws from interactionist theories of organizations, and James Eisenstein's depiction of courts as communities, to frame an investigation of sentencing disparity, case processing, and organizational relations under Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines. The author provides a statistical analysis of statewide sentencing outcomes and a comparative statistical and ethnographic analysis of three different-sized county courts. The statistical data show that the major influences on sentencing are legally prescribed ones, but that factors such as conviction by trial, race and gender, and court size are also significant. Ethnographic data illuminate processes behind the statistics by connecting court organizational contexts to case processing strategies, and these strategies to sentencing outcomes. The book concludes with twelve general propositions for future research, discussing possibilities and limitations of sentencing guidelines, and addressing broader issues in the sociology of crime, law, and organizations.

Table of Contents

List of Tables Preface 1. Courts, Sentencing, and Sentencing Guidelines Research on Courts and Sentencing 2. Court Communities as Social Worlds Processual Order/Social Worlds Theory Court Communities as Social Worlds Central Research Questions 3. Data and Analytical Strategy Statistical Data Statistical Data Limitations Ethnographic Data Ethnographic Data Limitations 4. Statewide Sentencing Outcomes Main Effects Models Interaction Effects Models Summary 5. Metro County Statistical Analysis of Conviction and Sentencing Outcomes Ethnographic Analysis Summary 6. Rich County Statistical Analysis Ethnographic Analysis Summary 7. Southwest County Statistical Analysis Ethnographic Analysis Summary 8. Conclusion: Court Communities and Sentencing under Guidelines Statewide Sentencing under Guidelines Case Processing and Sentencing in Three Court Communities Sentencing Guidelines: Possibilities, Limitations, and Dilemmas Broader Sociological Issues Appendix A: Pennsylvania Sentencing Guidelines Appendix B: Examples of Interview Questions by Topic Appendix C: Descriptive Statistics: Variables in State-wide Analysis Notes References Index

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