United States Sentencing Commission (USSC): Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 1992-2009 (ICPSR 34355)

Version Date: Feb 26, 2016

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Principal Investigator(s):
Mona Lynch, University of California-Irvine

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34355.v1

Version V1

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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.

Citation

Lynch, Mona. United States Sentencing Commission (USSC): Defendants Sentenced Under the Sentencing Reform Act, 1992-2009. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-02-26. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34355.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2010-IJ-CX-0010)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

federal judicial district

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)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

1992 -- 2009

Data Collection Notes

  1. 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.

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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

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

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

Longitudinal: Trend / Repeated Cross-section

Universe

All offenders sentenced in federal court between 1992 and 2009.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual., Federal Judicial District

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)

Mode of Data Collection

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

Not applicable.

Presence of Common Scales

None.

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Original Release Date

2016-02-26

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • 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
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Weight

None.

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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.