Effects of Prior Record in Sentencing Research in a Large Northeastern City, 1968-1979: [United States]

Principal Investigator(s): Welch, Susan; Spohn, Cassia

Summary: This data collection examines the impact of defendants' prior criminal records on the sentencing of male and female defendants committing violent and non-violent crimes. The collection also provides data on which types of prior records most influenced the sentencing judges. Variables deal specifically with the defendant, the judge and the characteristics of the current case. Only cases that fell into one of 14 categories of common offenses were included. These offenses were mu... (more info)

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Welch, Susan, and Cassia Spohn. EFFECTS OF PRIOR RECORD IN SENTENCING RESEARCH IN A LARGE NORTHEASTERN CITY, 1968-1979: [UNITED STATES]. Lincoln, NE: Susan Welch and Cassia Spohn, University of Nebraska [producers], 198?. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1988. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08929.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08929.v1

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This survey was funded by:

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (84-IJ-CX-0035)

Summary: This data collection examines the impact of defendants' prior criminal records on the sentencing of male and female defendants committing violent and non-violent crimes. The collection also provides data on which types of prior records most influenced the sentencing judges. Variables deal specifically with the defendant, the judge and the characteristics of the current case. Only cases that fell into one of 14 categories of common offenses were included. These offenses were murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, assault, minor assault, burglary, auto theft, embezzlement, receiving stolen property, forgery, sex offenses other than rape, drug possession, and driving while intoxicated.

Subject Terms: arrests, assault, auto theft, burglary, crime, criminal justice system, court system, defendants, drug law offenses, judges, murder, rape, robbery, sentencing, violence

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period:

1968--1979

Universe: All defendants in felony cases heard between 1968 and 1979 in a large northeastern city of the United States.

Data Types: event/transaction data

Sample: Random sample of convicted defendants selected from a larger sample. The sample was stratified by the gender of the judge with sampling fractions of .2 for male judges and 1.0 for female judges, yielding a large number of female judges in the final sample.

Data Source:

court records

Original ICPSR Release: 1988-10-25

1981

Gruhl, John, Spohn, Cassia, Welch, Susan . Women as Policymakers: The Case of Trial Judges. American Journal of Political Science. 25, (2), 308-322.

1987

Spohn, C., Welch, S. The Effect of Prior Record in Sentencing Research: An Examination of the Assumption That Any Measure is Adequate. Justice Quarterly. 4, 287-302.

1985

Spohn, Cassia, Welch, Susan, Gruhl, John . Women Defendants in Court: The Interaction Between Sex and Race in Convicting and Sentencing. Social Science Quarterly. 66, (1), 178-185.

1977

Uhlman, Thomas, M., Gardiner, John A. The Impact of Defendant Race in Trial-Court Sanctioning Decisions. Public Law and Public Policy. New York: Praeger.

1988

Welch, Susan, Combs, Michael, Gruhl, John . Do black judges make a difference?. American Journal of Political Science. 32, (1), 126-136.

1984

Welch, Susan, Gruhl, John, Spohn, Cassia . Sentencing: The Influence of Alternative Measures of Prior Record. Criminology. 22, (2), 215-227.

1986

Welch, Susan, Spohn, Cassia . Evaluating the impact of prior record on judges' sentencing decisions: A seven-city comparison. Justice Quarterly. 3, (4), 389-407.

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