The legal process from a behavioral perspective
About: This article is published in Michigan Law Review.The article was published on 1970-11-01. It has received 82 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Legal process (jurisprudence) & Perspective (graphical).
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TL;DR: Reevaluation of published research on racial bias in criminal sentencing and of data on execution rates by race from 1930 to 1967 and on death-sentencing rates from 1967 to 1978 indicates that, except in the South, black homicide offenders have been less likely than whites to receive a death sentence or be executed as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Reevaluation of published research on racial bias in criminal sentencing and of data on execution rates by race from 1930 to 1967 and on death-sentencing rates from 1967 to 1978 indicates that, except in the South, black homicide offenders have been less likely than whites to receive a death sentence or be executed. For the 11% of executions imposed for rape, discrimination against black defendants who had raped white victims was substantial, but only in the South. Evidence for noncapital sentencing also largely contradicts a hypothesis of overt discrimination against black defendants. Although black offender--white victim crimes are generally punished more severely than crimes involving other racial combinations, this appears to be due to legally relevant factors related to such offenses. Crimes with black victims, however, are less likely than those with white victims to result in imposition of the death penalty. The devalued status of black crime victims is one of several hypothetical explanations of the more lenient sentencing of black defendants. (abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1981. Copyright © 1981 by the American Sociological Association) VioLit keywords: Racial Differences Racial Factors Racial Discrimination Correctional Decision Making Sentencing Criminal Justice System Capital Punishment Death Penalty Black-White Comparison Caucasian Adult Caucasian Offender Caucasian Violence African American Adult African American Offender African American Violence 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
385 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the imposition of the death penalty since 1972 and estimated and evaluated the models' success in accounting for decisional outcomes, concluding that the legal perspective overpredicted liberal outcomes, the extralegal model conservative ones.
Abstract: How does the U.S. Supreme Court reach decisions? Since the 1940s, scholars have focused on two distinct explanations. The legal model suggests that the rule of law (stare decisis) is the key determinant. The extralegal model posits that an array of sociological, psychological, and political factors produce judicial outcomes. To determine which model better accounted for judicial decisions, we used Supreme Court cases involving the imposition of the death penalty since 1972 and estimated and evaluated the models' success in accounting for decisional outcomes. Although both models performed quite satisfactorily, they possessed disturbing weaknesses. The legal perspective overpredicted liberal outcomes, the extralegal model conservative ones. Given these results, we tested another proposition, namely that extralegal and legal frameworks present codependent, not mutually exclusive, explanations of decision making. Based on these results, we offer an integrated model of Supreme Court decision making that contemplates a range of political and environmental forces and doctrinal constraints.
294 citations
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TL;DR: Tested the hypotheses that attitude similarity between defendant and juror is positively related to judicial decisions favoring the defendant, and Juror authoritarianism is negatively related tojudicial decisions favors the defendant.
Abstract: Tested the hypotheses that (a) attitude similarity between defendant and juror is positively related to judicial decisions favoring the defendant, and (b) juror authoritarianism is negatively related to judicial decisions favoring the defendant. In a simulated jury situation, 139 undergraduates resp
203 citations
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TL;DR: This paper found that race does not have a direct effect on sentence severity, but that blacks are more likely than whites to be incarcerated and used multivariate analysis to show that race has a significant effect in sentence severity.
Abstract: Although the possible effect of race on sentencing decisions is a much-studied question, even recent studies suffer from methodological problems. This paper attempts to correct these problems by using a large number of cases and a large number of offenses, by dividing the sentencing decision into two separate decisions, by using an appropriate scale to measure sentence severity, by including controls for relevant legal and extra-legal factors, and by using multivariate analysis. Our major findings are that race does not have a direct effect on sentence severity, but that blacks are more likely than whites to be incarcerated.
190 citations
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TL;DR: The relation between gender and criminality is strong, and is likely to remain so as discussed by the authors, and there is no clear evidence that the defendant's gender systematically affects prosecution, plea negotiat...
Abstract: The relation between gender and criminality is strong, and is likely to remain so. Women have traditionally been much less likely than men to commit violent crimes, and that pattern persists today. Rates of female involvement in some forms of property crime-notably petty theft and fraud-appear to be increasing. However, while the relative increase in women's property crime involvement is significant, female participation even in these crimes remains far less than that of men. The relation of gender to case processing decisions in the criminal justice system varies from stage to stage. Although the pertinent literature is plagued by methodological and interpretive problems, several tentative conclusions can be offered. Women are more likely than men, other things equal, to be released on recognizance; however, when bail is set, the amount of bail does not appear to be affected by the defendant's gender. There is no clear evidence that the defendant's gender systematically affects prosecution, plea negotiat...
187 citations