Showing papers in "Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology in 1986"

Testing Alternative Models of Fear of Crime

Abstract: Fear of crime is a significant social problem. Recognition of the serious impact that fear may have on individuals and communities has emerged among policymakers, crime prevention practitioners, as well as researchers.' As a social problem, several aspects of fear of crime are notable. By the late 1970's, fear of crime was "touching" more households than ever.2 This increase in fear to some extent paralleled the rise in crime levels during the 1970's. However, the longstanding and deep-seated nature of the fear problem is reflected in the fact that at the national level, although fear goes up as crime goes up, fear does not fall as rapidly when crime declines.3

Why So Fast, Why So Slow: Explaining Case Processing Time

Abstract: From the time of Shakespeare and before, there have been complaints about "the law's delay," and it is a common perception that cases generally take too long to wind their way through American courts.' Normatively, this is a matter of "delay" versus "haste," but the factual question is simply of time: How long does a given case take? The answer is the variable increasingly known as case processing time. The cases involved may be civil or criminal, and if criminal they may be felony or misdemeanor, but here we restrict the discussion to felony cases. Why should we care about felony case processing time? At the individual level, the consequences are mostly for the defendant. Longer processing times are costlier in jail time and psychological wear-and-tear, but tend to lower the probability of conviction. Both

Updating the Deterrence Doctrine

Abstract: Common sense can explain the deterrence doctrine: most individuals prefer to avoid prison and thus are discouraged from engaging in criminal behavior, especially that behavior likely to be detected and punished. Even citizens alarmed by the amount of crime committed in the United States must acknowledge that the threat of punishment deters most individuals, most of the time. The practical problem facing contemporary deterrence researchers, law makers and other social policy makers is to develop the correct "formula" for using the threat of punishment to deter those individuals who are relatively resistant to legal threats, i.e., those individuals who commit common or predatory crime. One commentator has aptly phrased this problem by stating: "The crucial question is not simply whether negative sanctions deter, but rather under what conditions are negative sanctions likely to be effective."'

The effect of crime severity on perceptions of fair punishment: A California case study.

Abstract: victed criminal was not to be released until staff within the prison system concluded that he or she had responded to therapeutic treatment and was no longer a danger to society.2 California law provided for indeterminate sentencing from 1917 to 1977 that was later superseded by a "Determinate Sentencing Law" (DSL) based on a retributive rather than a rehabilitative model of criminal justice. There were several reasons for this change.3

Placebo Justice: Victim Recommendations and Offender Sentences in Sexual Assault Cases

Abstract: After many years of neglect, crime victims have recently been rediscovered, and concern for them has become an important item on the agenda of the criminal justice system.1 Feminist activists have exerted particular pressure on the criminal justice system to reform its attitudes and practices relating to the concerns of sexual assault victims.2 One might reasonably expect that this upsurge of concern will result in sexual assault victims exerting greater influence on decision-making at all stages of the processing of offenders.

Predicting the Career Criminal: An Empirical Test of the Greenwood Scale

Abstract: Correctional policy and practice remain in a state of crisis. The treatment of inmates, sentencing policies, prison conditions, justifications for punishment and funding levels have caused debates and dilemmas since the first inmate was put in state penal custody. Only the substance of the debate has changed. Much of the current crisis revolves around the "failure" of rehabilitation programs to affect the rates of recidivism of inmates. Because of this failure, deterrence schemes, as opposed to rehabilitative strategies, have become the primary focus of correctional efforts. At the same time, however, considerable uncertainty exists concerning the deterrent effects of sanctions. While some evidence shows that the certainty of punishment does indeed exert a deterrent effect, no empirical evidence indicates that an increase in the severity of punishment increases its deterrent effect.' Furthermore, considerable controversy surrounds the methods employed in those deterrence studies that have been completed. Amidst the uncertainty about the effect of deterrence and the abandonment of the rehabilitative justifications for intervention, two distinct approaches have emerged. The first approach, a retributive scheme, is designed to provide an alternative rationale for state intervention. Retributivists argue that the curtailment of indi-

Insider Justice: Defense Attorneys and the Handling of Felony Cases

Abstract: An enduring issue in the study of the legal process concerns the equal treatment of parties. This area of study has focused particularly on the felony criminal courts, where decisions can have a profound impact on fundamental rights and liberties. Numerous empirical studies have probed the question of how case outcomes are affected by a defendant's bail status, race, sex, and socioeconomic status.1 Considerably less attention has been given to the defendant's advocate in criminal proceedings. To be sure, the effect of being represented by a publicly paid attorney has received some empirical scrutiny, largely as an extension of the interest in socioeconomic bias within the criminal process.2 An equally important attribute of the defendant's advocate is the nature of his ties to the local court community. The role of these ties has interested empirically oriented legal scholars for over fifty years. The reason for this interest is fairly clear. Judges and prosecutors are regarded as full-time, regular members of local court com-

Victim, Offender, and Situational Characteristics of Violent Crime

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine victim, offender, and situational characteristics of violent and repeat offense behavior in two ways. First, possible differences between one-time offenders and repeat offenders on select victim, offender, and situational characteristics associated with the first victim-related offense were assessed. Second, those characteristics which were the strongest predictors of repeat offense behavior with a victim as compared to victimless repeat offense behavior were pinpointed. One-time offenders were defined as those who engage in no other offenses after their first victim-related offense; repeat offenders engaged in at least one other offense after their first victim-related offense. A considerable amount of research exists on victim and offender characteristics in different kinds of crimes.' More recently,

Policing Career Criminals: An Examination of an Innovative Crime Control Program

Abstract: A variety of criminal justice agencies have recently initiated efforts to focus resources selectively on the most active and dangerous offenders in response to resource limitations and research findings. Few police departments, however, attempt to proactively identify such offenders, devote extra resources to apprehending these offenders or build better cases against them to increase the rate at which they are convicted and incarcerated. In March, 1982, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C. created the Repeat Offender Project (ROP) to achieve these goals. This paper reports findings from an evaluation of ROP's selective apprehension approach. The evaluation involved three separate components: a field experiment to determine whether ROP increased the likelihood of arrest for targeted repeat offenders; intensive observation and informal interviews with ROP officers over

Legal fictions and criminology : the jurisprudence of drunk driving

Abstract: CRIMINAL LAW AND DRUNK DRIVING: RISK, BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION AND PER SE LAWS, ALCOHOL AS A CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS

Witness intimidation : the law's response

Abstract: Michael H. Graham argues that to meet the problem of witness intimidation squarely, the system must eliminate the possibility of intimidation by preserving the victim's or eyewitness's testimony in a form admissible at trial. To do this, the legal profession must develop procedures to preserve prior out-of-court statements and to admit such statements as substantive evidence if the witness is deemed sufficiently trustworthy. Finally, Graham advances a new proceeding--the preservation proceeding--that would permit the prosecutor to bring a witness before a judge, magistrate, or specially appointed attorney for the express purpose of recording and preserving the witness's testimony.

Dissent from the United States Sentencing Commission's Proposed Guidelines

Abstract: I believe that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984,1 which created the United States Sentencing Commission, contains two main directives. First, the Commission's guidelines must provide a rational and principled sentencing system2 that will further the purposes of just punishment and crime control.3 Second, the guidelines must reduce unwarranted disparity among sentences for similar offenders who commit similar offenses.4 The Act provides