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Curated

Charging and Sentencing Decisions Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: A Three District Study, 1998-2000 (ICPSR 31141)

Released/updated on: 2012-09-12
Geographic coverage: Iowa, United States, Minnesota, Nebraska
Time period: 1998-01-01--2000-01-01
The Charging and Sentencing Decisions Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines: A Three District Study, 1998-2000 looks at federal sentencing practices and outcomes at the district level and uses quantitative and qualitative research techniques to describe and analyze charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing policies, practices, and outcomes. This research studies three United States District Courts: the District of Nebraska, the District of Minnesota, and the Southern District of Iowa. The primary objectives of this study are: (1) to test for inter-district disparity in sentencing; (2) to describe charging and plea bargaining practices and to identify the predictors of charging and plea bargaining decisions; and (3) to examine the effect of offender and case characteristics on sentence outcomes at the district level. Detailed data on the offender, the case, and the sentence was obtained from the USSC's Offender Datafile for each district for each year. Data was supplemented with information contained in the Presentence Investigation Report, the Sentencing Recommendation, the Order of Judgment, and other documents provided by each United States District Court. Judges, attorneys, and probation officers in each district were interviewed. This dataset includes basic demographic variables such as race, age, sex, marital status, and education level. Other data obtained includes substance use, offense type, criminal charges, physical and mental health treatment, and court and trial proceeding information.
Curated
Restricted

How Justice Systems Realign in California: The Policies and Systemic Effects of Prison Downsizing, 1978-2013 (ICPSR 34939)

Released/updated on: 2017-03-30
Geographic coverage: United States, California
Time period: 1978-01-01--2012-01-01, 2013-03-01--2013-07-01, 2012-01-01--2013-01-01

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they there received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except of the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompany readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collections and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

The California correctional system underwent a dramatic transformation under California's Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109) in 2011, a law that shifted from the state to the counties the responsibility for monitoring, tracking, and incarcerating lower level offenders previously bound for state prison. Realignment, therefore, presents the opportunity to witness 58 natural experiments in the downsizing of prisons. Counties faced different types of offenders, implemented different programs in different community and jail environments, and adopted differing sanctioning policies. This study examines the California's Public Safety Realignment Act's effect on counties' criminal justice institutions, including the disparities that result in charging, sentencing, and resource decisions.

Curated

The Politicization of State Judicial Elections: The Effects of New-Style Campaigns on State Court Legitimacy in Kentucky, 2006 (ICPSR 31041)

Released/updated on: 2011-08-17
Geographic coverage: United States, Kentucky
This study had three major subject areas covered by the data collection. These subjects included general political questions about the respondent's views on issues such as freedom, the respondent's personal voting habits, and political campaign advertisements respectively. Respondents were asked about the frequency of their political discussions with friends, dealing with opinions that are extremely different from their own, the value of freedom including free speech, the government's role in creating and implementing laws, and majority wants vs. minority rights. The respondent's personal voting habits section included questions pertaining to feelings asked Kentucky residents how they felt about the Kentucky legislature, Supreme Court, Christian fundamentalists, anti-abortion activists, and pro-abortion activists. These questions also asked about the Kentucky court system in general, the press in Kentucky, insurance companies and other large businesses. Additional questions asked about the three branches of government, specifically, if respondents knew how each branch worked and its role in checks and balances on the American government. Kentucky citizens were asked about lifetime appointment for judges, serving a specific number of years dictated by terms, and whether Kentucky judges had a lifetime appointment or were subject to terms. Citizens were further queried about their elected judges in terms of how they vote for their judges, and whether or not controversial issues and left-right self-placement plays a role in their decisions. Another topic was the importance and relevance of the Constitution and whose interpretation should matter (the people vs. judges). Political campaign advertisement questions asked about advertisements in terms of their fairness. Specifically, questions asked about advertisement effectiveness in terms of whether the advertisement made the respondent more or less likely to vote for a certain candidate. Demographic and other background information includes age, gender, ethnicity, highest grade or year of school completed, political affiliation, religious affiliation and participation, and television viewership.
Curated

Replication Data for Quality Over Quantity: Amici Influence and Judicial Decision Making (ICPSR 34838)

Released/updated on: 2013-08-07
Geographic coverage: United States
Interest groups often make their preferences known on cases before the U.S. Supreme Court via amicus curiae briefs. In evaluating the case and related arguments, we posit that judges take into account more than just the number of supporters for the liberal and conservative positions. Specifically, judges' decisions may also reflect the relative power of the groups. We use network position to measure interest group power in U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1946 to 2001. We find that the effect of interest group power is minimal in times of heavily advantaged cases. However, when the two sides of a case are approximately equal in the number of briefs, such power is a valuable signal to judges. We also show that justice ideology moderates the effect of liberal interest group power. The results corroborate previous findings on the influence of amicus curiae briefs and add a nuanced understanding of the conditions under which the quality and reputation of interest groups matter, not just the quantity.
Curated
Restricted

State Laws and Child Custody Recommendations in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence, 2009-2010 [United States] (ICPSR 36594)

Released/updated on: 2018-03-19
Geographic coverage: United States
Time period: 2009-01-01--2010-01-01

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.

This study was a secondary analysis of Custody Evaluators' Beliefs about Domestic Abuse Allegations, 2009-2010 [United States] (ICPSR 30962 - https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR30962.v1). The purpose of this study was to conduct further analysis of a recent, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) sponsored national survey of professionals to better understand the relationship between family law statutes and professionals' recommendations for child custody and visitation in cases of intimate partner violence. The samples involve 512 child custody evaluators and 200 judges from 46 states. Evaluators and judges responded to a case vignette of serious intimate partner violence (IPV). They indicated recommendations they would make for custody and visitation and the perceived risk of future harm. Evaluators also reported on their history of actual recommendations in IPV cases. The original study investigated beliefs about custody, value-laden beliefs, knowledge professionals had acquired on IPV, the number of survivors they had known, and their work setting, education, and other demographics. In the current study, statutory provisions with sufficient sample sizes of professionals with and without the provisions were used in the analysis.

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