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Full-Text Articles in Law
Extra-Legal Characteristics And Sentencing Disparity Among Federal Drug Offenders, Justin D. Galasso
Extra-Legal Characteristics And Sentencing Disparity Among Federal Drug Offenders, Justin D. Galasso
Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations
The development of the federal sentencing guidelines was made as an attempt to provide a uniform standard of sentencing procedure for defendants convicted within the federal legal system. Unfortunately, such unvarying policy has over the years birthed a system of sentencing that lacks equality among like defendants. The Supreme Court, in 2005, ruled that the sentencing guidelines were no longer to be compulsory during sentencing procedures, but rather act as an ancillary tool. The present study examines multiple legal and extra-legal variables and their influence on two aspects of imprisonment probability for federal drug offenders for the years of 1999-2006: …
Crossing The Line: Juvenile Transfer And Prison Violence, Jessica M. Huffman
Crossing The Line: Juvenile Transfer And Prison Violence, Jessica M. Huffman
Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations
The juvenile court has long held caring and rehabilitation as it's objective for those persons who commit crimes while under age 18. However, arguably, that goal has been compromised with the use of juvenile transfers. Some research has been done on the use of transfers, but little has studied the effects of incarcerating juveniles with adult prisoners at the state level. This thesis examines the use of the juvenile transfer and the effects it has with respect to prison violence using states in the U.S. as the unit of analysis. It was hypothesized that prison violence would increase with an …
Understanding Juror Decisions: The Influence Of Other Jurors' Votes, Unanimous Versus Majority Decision Rule, And Juror Gender, La Donna Flanagan James
Understanding Juror Decisions: The Influence Of Other Jurors' Votes, Unanimous Versus Majority Decision Rule, And Juror Gender, La Donna Flanagan James
Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations
Jury deliberations are secret and there is great curiosity, both among academics and the lay population, about what goes on inside the jury room. Prior research suggests that individuals are very susceptible to the social pressures of others and that this has important implications for decision-making among jury members. Research on jury decision-making also suggests the importance of the assigned decision rule and gender in jury deliberations and trial outcomes. This study used a fictional vignette clearly constructed to elicit a not guilty reaction. The impact of other jurors' votes, assigned decision rule (unanimous versus two-thirds majority), and juror gender …
Bailing Out Of Bonds: The Effect Of Victim/Offender Relationships And Other Factors In The Setting Of Bail, Tancy Vandecar
Bailing Out Of Bonds: The Effect Of Victim/Offender Relationships And Other Factors In The Setting Of Bail, Tancy Vandecar
Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations
The purpose of this study is to investigate which factors impact bail decisions made by magistrates and judges. Much of the research on this topic was done in the early 1960s and 1970s when efforts such as the Manhattan Bail Project were in full force and the decisions of magistrates had not been investigated. There has been little research which looks specifically at the effect of victim-offender relationship on the bail decision. The present research utilizes bail decisions made by judges in the General District Court of Virginia Beach, Virginia as well as Virginia Beach magistrates. The effects of offense …