Doctoral Dissertation Research: Sentencing reforms as anti-discrimination policy

博士论文研究：量刑改革作为反歧视政策

• 批准号: 0425149
• 负责人: Bruce Western
• 金额: $ 0.69万
• 依托单位: Princeton University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-15 至 2005-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0425149&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Sentencing; reforms

Determinate sentencing polices were adopted, in part, in response to critiques that linked discretion to discrimination and advocated for determinate 'colorblind' policies to replace the indeterminate sentences of the time; as such, these policies are anti-discrimination measures. This dissertation will examine the strengths and limitations of colorblind anti-discrimination policies by analyzing the relationships between the adoption of determinate sentencing policies and changes and continuities in the size and composition of the incarcerated population. Research questions exploring this relationship will be answered by analyzing primary and secondary datasets containing information on punishment outcomes, sentencing, and a variety of state level variables and characteristics of individual offenders. The analysis will use data from all 50 states, will examine the period from 1980 to 2000, and will consist of three research designs. First, pooled cross-sectional time-series analysis will be used to measure the effects of these reforms on incarceration rates, admission rates, and time-served, as well as racial, ethnic, and gender disparity in these measures. Next, an individual level longitudinal design will be employed to access the effects of sentencing reforms on changes in time-served and the impact of extra-legal characteristics on time-served. These first two analyses will be limited to the six states for which I have collected extensive data on sentencing reform legislation. Finally, an individual level longitudinal design will be used to access the effects of truth in sentencing, parole abolition, and the adoption of sentencing guidelines on time-served and the effect of extra-legal characteristics on time-served. While group-membership based disparities in punishment outcomes are a social reality with a long history in the US, the prison boom of the last quarter century has increased the impact of these disparities. As such, it is increasingly urgent that we understand the effects of policies adopted as remedies The broader impacts of this research include the following: Because the proposed analyses address the ways in which definitions of discrimination shape policy and thus direct policy outcomes, the findings of this study will help policymakers design more informed and effective anti-discrimination policies. Although researchers and policy makers often assume a causal relationship between sentencing reforms and changes and continuities in the demographics of imprisonment, we currently have no comprehensive empirical assessment of the effects of these policies. This study will provide an empirical test for assumptions under which many criminal justice policy makers currently operate.

采用确定的判决政策，部分是为了回应将自由裁量权与歧视联系起来的批评，并主张确定的"色盲"政策，以取代当时的不确定判决;因此，这些政策是反歧视措施。本文将通过分析确定的量刑政策的采用和变化之间的关系，并在被监禁人口的规模和组成的连续性，检查色盲的反歧视政策的优势和局限性。探索这种关系的研究问题将通过分析包含惩罚结果，判刑和各种州一级变量和个人罪犯特征信息的主要和次要数据集来回答。该分析将使用来自所有50个州的数据，将审查1980年至2000年期间，并将包括三个研究设计。首先，汇总的横截面时间序列分析将被用来衡量这些改革的监禁率，入院率和服刑时间，以及种族，民族和性别差异，在这些措施的影响。其次，采用个体水平的纵向设计，考察量刑改革对服刑时间变化的影响，以及法外特征对服刑时间的影响。前两项分析将仅限于我收集了大量关于量刑改革立法数据的六个州。最后，一个个人层面的纵向设计将被用来访问的影响，在量刑的真相，假释废除，并通过量刑指南的服刑时间和法律外的特性对服刑时间的影响。虽然基于群体成员的惩罚结果差异是美国历史悠久的社会现实，但上个世纪的监狱繁荣增加了这些差异的影响。因此，我们越来越迫切地需要了解作为补救措施而采取的政策的影响。这项研究的更广泛的影响包括：由于拟议的分析解决了歧视的定义塑造政策的方式，从而直接的政策结果，这项研究的结果将有助于政策制定者设计更明智和有效的反歧视政策。 虽然研究人员和政策制定者往往假设量刑改革和变化之间的因果关系和连续性的人口监禁，我们目前还没有全面的实证评估这些政策的影响。 这项研究将为许多刑事司法政策制定者目前运作的假设提供一个实证检验。