Journal ArticleDOI
Risk and resources: A qualitative perspective on low-level sentencing in Virginia.
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The research team identified contextual factors that influence the use of the NVRA results, including the availability of alternative programs in a community, the role of court actors, particularly prosecutors, in shaping the sentencing outcomes, as well as an individual judge's willingness to defer to or reject negotiated plea agreements offered by the prosecutor.Abstract:
Virginia's sentencing guidelines include alternative sanctions based on the use of a quantitative instrument called the Nonviolent Risk Assessment (NVRA) that identifies individuals convicted of drug and property crimes that are considered to be at lower risk of recidivism. Although nondispositive, the NVRA affords judges the discretion to grant alternative sentences to eligible low-risk defendants. In this study, we explore how judges make use of the NVRA instrument when sentencing individuals convicted of low-level drug and property crimes. Through semistructured interviews (N = 24) and inductive thematic analysis, the research team identified contextual factors that influence the use of the NVRA results, including: the availability of alternative programs in a community, the role of court actors, particularly prosecutors, in shaping the sentencing outcomes, as well as an individual judge's willingness to defer to or reject negotiated plea agreements offered by the prosecutor. Our research shows that while some judges are aware of and embrace the benefits of the instrument, others lack knowledge altogether of its function and empirical basis. We identified seven themes that account for variation in how actuarial risk is utilized in the sentencing process. Our findings provide insight into the practical challenges of using risk-based assessment as a tool for the sentencing of low-level convictions. As more states adopt risk-based approaches to sentencing, studying Virginia, which has gone farther than other states in legislating this strategy, becomes increasingly important.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Judicial Reliance on Risk Assessment in Sentencing Drug and Property Offenders: A Test of the Treatment Resource Hypothesis:
TL;DR: For almost two decades, Virginia has used risk assessment to justify alternative non-prison sentences for eligible drug and property offenders as discussed by the authors. But the use of risk assessment has been controversial.
Journal ArticleDOI
Examining prosecutorial decision-making in plea bargaining: An experimental paradigm in a community sample
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Risk assessment in sentencing and plea bargaining: The roles of prosecutors and defense attorneys.
TL;DR: It was found that most prosecutors and defense attorneys at least "sometimes" explicitly invoked actuarial risk estimates both at sentencing hearings and during plea negotiations, however, defense attorneys were much more likely than prosecutors to be averse to the use of risk assessment in either form of case disposition.
Journal ArticleDOI
Valid or voodoo? A qualitative study of attorney perceptions of risk assessment in sentencing and plea bargaining.
TL;DR: A qualitative study on the use of risk assessment by prosecutors and defense attorneys in Virginia suggests that court actor perceptions vary as a function of professional role in the service of the identified client (the community or the defendant) and their interests.
Journal ArticleDOI
What Are Judges’ Views of Risk Assessments, and How Do Tools Affect Adolescent Dispositions?
TL;DR: This paper used a self-report questionnaire to examine judges' opinions about risk assessment tools, as well as an experimental vignette design to evaluate whether judges' placement and program recommendations for a high and low-risk adolescent are affected by the presence of an empirically supported tool and accompanying risk rating.
References
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Danielle Kaeble,Lauren E. Glaze +1 more
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