Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses and Dissertations

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    Federal Probation Officers and Sentencing Disparity: Examining the Role of Extralegal Factors in Guidelines Calculations
    (2024) Mullaly, Cara; Johnson, Brian; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Over the years, the relationship between extralegal factors and federal sentencing disparity has attracted a significant amount of research attention. Much of this work, however, has focused on judicial and prosecutorial decision-making, largely ignoring other influential actors. One such actor is the federal probation officer. Using data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, this study explores the relationship between extralegal factors and federal probation officer’s guidelines calculations. This study uses a theoretical framework that combines focal concerns and causal attributions to argue that federal probation officers attribute the causes of criminal activity differently across demographic groups, shaping their perception of the defendant’s blameworthiness and dangerousness and ultimately resulting in differing guidelines calculations. Findings showed mixed support for the hypotheses in this study. After discussing the results and limitations of the current study, I provide direction for future study of federal probation officers and their influence on federal sentencing outcomes.
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    IMMIGRATION EFFECTS ON FAMILY STRUCTURE AND HOMICIDE VICTIMIZATION FOR GROUPS WITH DIFFERENT RACE AND ETHNICITY STATUS
    (2019) Luna, Mathew; Xie, Min; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Guided by the immigrant revitalization theory, this paper will argue that improvements in family structure play a role in the immigration-crime relationship. The data used in this study were obtained from the National Vital Statistics System, the American Community Survey, and the decennial census. This paper uses cross-sectional and longitudinal models to investigate whether family structure plays a role in the immigration-crime relationship. The longitudinal models will look at changes in homicide data from 2007 and 2017. Findings from the longitudinal models show no support to indicate that family structure plays a role in the immigration-crime relationship. However, findings from Black and White non-Hispanic cross-sectional models do show some support for the argument that family structure does play a role in the immigration-crime relationship.
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    Racial Disparities in Pre-Sentencing Courtroom Outcomes
    (2011) Salpino, Anthony; Wellford, Charles; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The foundation of the American criminal justice system rests on the idea that all offenders should be treated equally before the law. However, prior research has shown that an offender's race may result in differential treatment. Despite extensive literature examining sentencing and race, very little attention has been given to the courtroom processes that occur after arrest but prior to sentencing (primarily executed at the discretion of the prosecutor). This study examines three of those pre-sentencing processes (dismissals, diversions, and charge reductions) that drastically affect the treatment an offender receives during later stages of the proceedings. Results indicate that minorities are significantly more likely to receive dismissals while being significantly less likely to receive diversions or charge reductions. Findings regarding geographic location and other variables are also discussed as well as limitations and suggestions for further research.
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    RACE AND THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA 1995-2004: HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?
    (2009) Joseph, Patricia; Paternoster, Ray; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study examines the relationship between the race of victim and combination of victim and offender races on a prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty. The objective is to offer an updated look at the Georgia capital sentencing system between 1995 and 2004. In an older Georgia study based on data from the 1970s, race of victim was found to be of critical importance in capital case processing. Given the changes that have occurred in Georgia's death penalty system to address disparate sentencing along with the number of years that have gone by, an argument can be made that a more current investigation may yield new findings. Using data from the Atlanta Constitution Journal, a logistic regression analysis is conducted. Results reveal that although race of victim is still relevant to a prosecutor's decision to seek a death sentence, its influence has diminished.
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    A Re-Analysis of the Role of Race in the Federal Death Penalty System
    (2009) Chapman, Brett; Paternoster, Raymond; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The death penalty, as the ultimate sanction, has always served as a source of great debate and remains one of the most controversial punishments meted out by the criminal justice system. Due to concerns of its administration and application, a moratorium on the death penalty was declared by the U.S. Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia in 1972, and states were mandated by the Court to overhaul their respective death sentencing statutes in a manner that would conform to Court-approved standards under the U.S. Constitution. After the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, it was believed by many that the deficiencies cited in sentencing outcomes in capital cases four years earlier in Furman would either be eliminated or at least brought within constitutionally acceptable levels. Although there has been a wealth of empirical studies over the years at the state level, very few analyses have focused on how the death penalty is administered in the Federal system. In 2002, a study was funded to examine the potential influence of race in decisions by U.S. Attorney's Offices to seek or not seek the death penalty for defendants charged with death-eligible offenses under Federal law. Three independent research teams investigated whether charging outcomes could be explained by relevant legal factors such as the heinousness of the offense. However, unlike the wealth of death penalty research which has conducted such analyses using more traditional multivariate models to isolate the effect of race on charging and sentencing outcomes, the three research teams conducted alternate analyses to compare outcomes in white victim versus non-white victim cases. The purpose of the current study will be to examine the role of race on charging decisions made in the federal death penalty system. The final results suggest that capital cases involving white victims may have a higher risk of being charged with the death penalty than cases involving non-white victims.
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    A Longitudinal Study of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines: A Decade of Balancing Judicial Discretion and Unwarranted Disparity (1993-2003)
    (2007-04-27) Sharp, Barbara Ann; Wellford, Charles; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This research focuses on judicial decision-making in the federal courts to determine whether unwarranted disparities persist, and also to gauge the change, if any, that occurs over time. Three sentencing outcomes were analyzed: the in/out incarceration decision, the length of term of incarceration decision, and the judicial downward departure decision. Eleven consecutive fiscal years of data from all 94 federal district courts were used to assess the effects of a defendant's gender, race and ethnicity, mode of conviction, offense type, district court location, and year of sentencing on the sentencing outcome. The results of the study were presented along two dimensions, namely as overall aggregate findings concerning the effects of these factors, and secondly, as findings concerning the effects of these factors on each individual fiscal year to measure the changes in the influence of these factors over time. The aggregate findings show that female defendants are treated more leniently while black and Hispanic defendants were hampered in all three sentencing outcomes--Hispanics more so for the incarceration decision, and blacks more so for the length-of-term and the judicial downward departure decision. The mode of conviction was found to be highly significant, penalizing those defendants who were convicted at trial. The influence of the offense type categories, the fiscal year of sentencing, and many of the district court variables were also significant. The findings from the temporal analysis indicate that gender became less significant over time in the incarceration decision as the probability of going to prison increased for all defendants. The probability of Black and Hispanic defendants being incarcerated and of their length-of-term changed over time, but their likelihoods for receiving downward departures did not. The only change noted for the mode of conviction was for judicial downward departures, but the change was an even greater decrease in the likelihood of receiving this type of departure. Additional findings suggest that defendants sentenced for immigration offenses are treated differently at sentencing, and that differences in these three sentencing outcomes vary by district court and by the fiscal year in which the sentencing occurred.
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    Satisfaction with Police: A Heirarchical Analysis of Race and Neighborhood Disadvantage
    (2006-12-11) Franke, Derrick; Bushway, Shawn; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    A growing literature finds that two factors, race and neighborhood disadvantage, commonly predict attitudes toward the police; both African-Americans and residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods tend to report lower levels of police satisfaction. Recently, multilevel studies have begun to examine whether these neighborhood-level factors attenuate the race effect - testing, in other words, if African-Americans are less satisfied with the police only because they are more likely to live in disadvantaged areas. This thesis expands on current research by not only examining race versus context, but also race via context. In other words, I test whether the effect of race on police satisfaction varies according to neighborhood disadvantage. Drawing on a number of theoretical perspectives, I predict that race matters more (i.e. the racial gap is wider) in neighborhoods marked by social and economic disadvantage. Multilevel modeling is employed to test this hypothesis using data from over 10,000 individuals in 60 neighborhoods.