College of Behavioral & Social Sciences

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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..

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    Displaced Discretion? An Empirical Test of Prosecutorial Charge Bargaining Before and After the District of Columbia Sentencing Guidelines
    (2009) Vance, Stephen Edward; Wellford, Charles; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Though significant research has found that sentencing guidelines systems have reduced sentencing disparity, few studies have examined whether sentencing guidelines have shifted discretion and disparity from judges to prosecutors. Using data from the District of Columbia Superior Court, this research examines whether charge bargaining practices changed after the District of Columbia Sentencing Guidelines. This study also examines whether legal, offender, and case processing characteristics had different effects on charge bargaining outcomes before and after the Sentencing Guidelines. The analyses show that, while there were changes in the plea bargaining process after the Sentencing Guidelines, there was not significant evidence of a displacement of discretion or disparity to prosecutors. Policy implications are discussed.
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    Prosecutors Offering Charge Reductions: Relying on Facts or Stereotypes?
    (2005-05-06) O'Neill, Lauren; Paternoster, Ray; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This research expands attribution theory and focal concerns perspective, usually applied to judicial decision making, to address prosecutorial charging decisions within the Federal Court System. This study investigates whether the extralegal factors of age, gender, race, and ethnicity permeate the decision of prosecutors to offer charge reductions. This research seeks to uncover differential processing through comparisons across sub-samples of individuals in order to see if the influences of these extralegal factors vary through interactions with both legal and extralegal factors. The analyses are conducted on a binary dependent variable representing the decision to offer a reduction and a continuous dependent variable reflecting the magnitude of the charge change. The results find support for differential processing based on extralegal variables, and support for the importance of some interactions. This research lends credence to the use of attribution theory and focal concerns for understanding prosecutorial charging decisions.