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Full-Text Articles in Law
A (Partial And Principled) Defense Of Sentences Of Life Imprisonment, Mirko Bagaric, Jennifer Svilar
A (Partial And Principled) Defense Of Sentences Of Life Imprisonment, Mirko Bagaric, Jennifer Svilar
Cleveland State Law Review
There has been more than a five-fold increase in the number of life sentences in the United States over the past four decades. One in seven prisoners in the United States is serving a life (or virtual) life sentence. This amounts to over 200,000 prisoners. The increase has occurred against the backdrop of near universal condemnation by scholars and public policy advocates – many of whom are now advocating for the abolition of life sentences. Arguments that life sentences are not an effective deterrent or means of protecting the community have some merit. Yet, we argue that in a limited …
Examining Legal Financial Obligations In Washington State, Bryan Lewis
Examining Legal Financial Obligations In Washington State, Bryan Lewis
PPPA Paper Prize
After criminal offenders are convicted of a crime, they must return to the court where a judge will determine their sentence. Sentencing often includes jail time, but it always includes monetary penalties, or Legal Financial Obligations (LFOs). There are many reasons these penalties are given, from restitution for the victims of criminal offenses, to providing government revenue and funding the court, to punishment for the offender. However, these fines, and the interest rates that come with them, often leave offenders with an enormous amount of debt. There are a lot of interests at stake when it comes to LFO sentencing …
Disparities In The Sentencing Of African American Men In Wayne County, Michigan, Brian Banks
Disparities In The Sentencing Of African American Men In Wayne County, Michigan, Brian Banks
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
AbstractThe ability of judges in the U.S. criminal justice system to administer penalties based on a defendant’s socioeconomic status has resulted in a disproportionate number of African Americans receiving harsher penalties than those of other racial groups and socioeconomic statuses. Currently, there is little evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of harsher sentencing of defendants with lower socioeconomic statuses in preventing crime or lowering recidivism, but more work is needed to clarify what sentencing factors judges use. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the factors that Wayne County, Michigan, judges used during the sentencing process of criminal defendants, along …
A Call To Dismantle Systemic Racism In Criminal Legal Systems, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson
A Call To Dismantle Systemic Racism In Criminal Legal Systems, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson
Psychology Faculty Scholarship
Objectives: In October 2021, APA passed a resolution addressing ways psychologists could work to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems. The present report, developed to inform APA’s policy resolution, details the scope of the problem and offers recommendations for policy and psychologists to address the issue by advancing related science and practice. Specifically, it acknowledges the roots of modern-day racial and ethnic disparities in rates of criminalization and punishment for people of color as compared to White people. Next, the report reviews existing theory and research that helps explain the underlying psychological mechanisms driving racial and ethnic disparities …