United States Sentencing Commission (USSC): Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 1992-2009 (ICPSR 34355)
Version Date: Feb 26, 2016 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Mona Lynch, University of California-Irvine
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34355.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for NACJD release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The purpose of the study was to examine how court decisions and sentencing policy changes have affected sentencing behavior in federal drug trafficking cases. Changes at the district level and in mandatory minimum sentencing were a particular focus.
Data were obtained from the Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act data from the United States Sentencing Commission from fiscal years 1992-2009. These data were then merged with federal district-level indicators for the 89 federal districts from the Federal Court Management Statistics website, and state level demographic data from the United States Census Bureau. Drug trafficking cases were identified by using the sentencing guideline offense, which resulted in a sample of N=376,637 cases.
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
federal judicial district
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for NACJD release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of the study was to examine how court decisions and sentencing policy changes have affected sentencing behavior in federal drug trafficking cases. Changes at the district level and in mandatory minimum sentencing were a particular focus.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Data were obtained from the Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act data from the United States Sentencing Commission from fiscal years 1992-2009, which contained all offenders in federal court in those fiscal years. These data were then merged with federal district-level indicators for the 89 federal districts from the Federal Court Management Statistics website, state level demographic data from the United States Census Bureau, Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data collected by the Federal Bureau, and the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Drug trafficking cases were identified by using the sentencing guideline offense, which resulted in a final sample of N=376,637 cases.
Sample View help for Sample
The initial sample included 1,042,207 cases. Drug trafficking cases were identified by using the sentencing guideline offense, which resulted in a sample of N=376,637 cases. The sample does not include cases from 1992 and cases from United States territories.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
All offenders sentenced in federal court between 1992 and 2009.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
Sources of these data include:
- United States Sentencing Commission data from fiscal years 1992 through 1998 and 1999 through 2009;
- Judicial district data from Federal Court Management Statistics; and
- State demographic data from United States Census Bureau, Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Variables (Merged USSC data, n=1,042,207, 78 variables) include information on individual offenders, such as demographics, offense, case characteristics, and sentence. District level variables include population density, percentage of population by race (White, Black, Asian, and American Indian or Native Hawaiian), total number of trafficking sentences by drug type (cocaine, crack, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and other), and mean sentence prison length.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
None.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2016-02-26
Version History View help for Version History
- Lynch, Mona. United States Sentencing Commission (USSC): Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 1992-2009. ICPSR34355-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-02-26. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34355.v1
Notes
These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.